The changing landscape of tomorrow's jobs

It is incredible how much the employment environment has changed over the years and how it will continue to change.

It is now essential to occasionally stand back from your job, and analyze where your job is moving, as well as analyze what is happening with your industry. Failure to do this, or waiting too long to do so, can sometimes prove to be disastrous for one’s career.

I remember in 2008, I was receiving at least 5 resumes a day from people in the publishing industry. It started with resumes from people working for textbook publishers and then common book publishers and eventually the newspaper and magazine publishers. Loyal 20 year seasoned veterans were suddenly finding themselves out of work, with experience and contacts that was deemed as being irrelevant by most other industries.

I also think about a couple of my friends who are in the fire and police departments. They told me stories about the mass amounts of television and media industry people that were applying to join the departments. They were scrambling and trying to make a drastic career change from a once vibrant industry that had significantly retracted.

Let’s look at how much the worlds has changed when it comes to occupations in Canada.

1. In 1961, only 34% of women worked in Canada. As of today, just millennials comprised of men and women make up over 50% of the workforce.

2. Many of today’s most common jobs did not even exist 10 years ago. App developers, data miners, admissions consultants, social media managers, cloud computing technologists, sustainability experts and user experience designers are all jobs that have appeared overnight.

3. Any student currently enrolled in the first year of a 4-year technical college program, will be learning material that will be obsolete by the third year of that program.

4. 65% of Kindergarten students will grow up and work in jobs that don't currently exist.

Experts believe that the most desirable skill sets in the future will be people who have competencies centered around the following:

-Critical Thinking

-Problem Solving

-Creativity

-Digital literacy

-Entrepreneurialism

Some of the predictions for jobs in the year 2030 include:

-Digital architect
-Body part engineer
-Vertical farmer
-Waste data handler
-Memory augmentation surgeon

Make sure that you and your family are prepared for the future!

Farewell,

Mike