jobs opportunities in the future

Jobs opportunities are changing, or are they?

Sometimes it depends where you live in the world. In Australia, as the population increases it is predicted that traditional jobs will still be needed, but the way in which communication and connectivity takes place will change.

An example: population increases, which means more dwellings, which means builders, which means ... You can see how this progresses out into supporting businesses like landscaping, white goods suppliers etc.

Having said that, the white goods will probably be ordered online and be delivered from a warehouse as opposed to a shop. Going a little further, a kettle may be delivered by a drone direct to the door.

Taking Australia again, connectivity will be key for the future through the Internet across optical fibre, wireless or satellite systems. This is true of all parts of the world, even remote parts of Africa where Facebook is looking to place a satellite for connectivity.

In other ways there is change all around us which is impacting on careers, and a growing part-time and casualisation of the workforce. Sometimes it can be difficult to see where work will go in the future and what jobs and opportunities there will be.

Mass unemployment when a large manufacturer or power station closes can be very difficult. Where are the new jobs for these workers? How are they equipped for such change?

On another level, consider the impact and disruption of the collaborative or sharing economy like Uber on the taxi transport industry, AirBnB on hotels and Taskrabbit on full-time employment.

Knowing more about the changes we are living in today and the drivers of this change may assist you to take advantage of this change. Where there is a problem or change, there can be opportunities.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity
An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

~ Winston Churchill

A Swiss Engineer George de Mestral often walked in the Alps with his dog, but was always annoyed having to pull out the burrs that stuck to his socks and to his dog at the end of his walk (difficulty). A look through a microscope, some thinking and a bit of time created Velcro which is used world-wide today. George saw the opportunity.

A glue failed when Dr. Spencer Silver from 3M was trying to invent a super-strong adhesive in 1968. Dr Spencer promoted his weak glue as a "solution without a problem" and was finally sold across the US in 1980 as the sticky PostIt Note we know today.

I am interested in change, and I am researching the change that is occurring today.

So, let's learn a little more ... maybe some insights will help us see those opportunities.

Four Global forces breaking all the trends

There are four significant forces of global change today according to the McKinsey Global Report researched by McKinsey and Company. Technology is just one.

These forces are ...

An Aging population

We are getting older. We are always being told how the baby boomers are moving through the workforce

Technology

Is impacting on life, making it easier and also automating work. You've heard of robots taking jobs, well this is part of it

Urbanisation

People are moving to the cities. This has been happening in Australia for years, country children moving to the city for study and staying for work, and in recent times there has been rapid change to cities in that powerhouse called China. The US and most countries also see this movement of people.

Global markets

From a lounge chair in Australia, you can buy a book at Amazon and you could be making the transaction via Chicago in the US. In another life, I bought Microsoft Licences through Singapore. Organizations have global markets and can undertake business anywhere in the world.

What we feel most is the significant change coming through Technology. We feel the impact of technology everywhere, from self-checkouts in stores, automated messaging on train stations, "holes in the wall" banking otherwise called automatic teller machines, to name just three.

Within this one force of Technology, there are actually 12 Disruptive drivers.

twelve disruptive technologies

The McKinsey Report has identified twelve disruptive technologies with some that are familiar, and others that could be a surprise. These include:

McKinsey Report www.wordle.net

Mobile Internet - increasingly inexpensive and capable mobile computing devices and Internet connectivity. Add sensors, webcams, GPS to name three and suddenly you can connect the world.
Automation of knowledge work - intelligent software systems that can perform knowledge-work tasks. We see this today. Scary.
Internet of Things - networks of low-cost sensors and actuators for data collection, monitoring, decision making and to optimise processes.
Cloud - use computer resources to deliver services over the Internet
Advanced robotics
Autonomous vehicles
Next-generation genomics - fast, low-cost gene sequencing, analysis and synthetic biology (ie "writing" DNA)
Energy storage
3-D Printing
Advanced materials
Advanced recovery of oil and gas that make extraction of additional oil and gas economical.
Renewable electricity - solar and wind

Thinking about Jobs opportunities in these Disruptive forces

These forces are at work today, so the question is what opportunities are there within this change from these disruptive forces?

As Churchill says, "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, whereas an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

With a little preparation, your eyes are more able to see opportunities. As someone said

"Success is the intersection of preparation and opportunity"
~ Anonymous

Let's take each in turn and in a simplistic way, see if there are opportunities there.

Aging - as the human population ages, there will be opportunities to support this aging population. There will be needs to be met and new careers to assist an aging population.

Technology - whilst technology impacts daily on jobs, there is possibly an opportunity to grab it with both hands. A real example is the mobile Internet which can free you from the 9 to 5 daily grind (or longer) and work more flexibly and potentially with better family-friendly hours. There could be opportunities to work where you want, when you want. With the technology today, you can undertake the work that in years past could only be done in a large office. Technology today is affordable, can be accessed at home and creates jobs opportunities galore.

Urbanisation - with high speed Internet becoming more available across Australia (I hope it is near you) it may be possible to create an income from a regional location other than having to live in the city. This would reverse the trend. Whilst I live in the city of Sydney now, I have enjoyed the benefits of country Wagga, Orange and Gosford, and I enjoy it when I am away from Sydney (with my Netbook computer of course). Working away from a city can bring many other benefits of health, reduced stress

Marketing - like the technology, I am going to take hold of what is happening and turn it to my advantage. I can dial into "The Cloud" just like the big guys and find markets anywhere in the world. This is what we do at GreenDoorIDEAS. I am flexible and nimble and can tap into the markets that the big guys ignore.

Hopefully with a growing knowledge of the forces about us and as you explore the links from this page, you will be more able to see jobs opportunities and ideas as they present themselves.

In the next section Opportunities, more ideas will be explored.

If you are feeling deeply upset by this change here is where you can talk with someone

Australia - Lifeline 13 11 14 (24hrs a day) https://www.lifeline.org.au

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