A friend sent me an email with a URL, “You have to look at this", he wrote. https://willrobotstakemyjob.com/
The site is based on a mathematical analysis of the probability of automation in a range of professional services. It also has the prognosis for each, through to 2030. That’s only 8 years away!!
The truth is you won’t lose your professional services job to a humanoid with an electronic voice sitting at your desk. However the need for someone (or so many people) in the job itself will no longer exist in some cases, in the same way as coal stokers and traction engine mechanics really don't have good career prospects nowadays.
A second truth is that all our jobs are increasingly affected by a gamut of technology innovations, automation, artificial intelligence and other areas we need to know about. Indeed they’re already significantly impacting our lives at home and at work.
Here’s a quick sample with some of the web site’s feedback and screen shots:
Profession |
Likelihood of Automation |
EngineersSOC CODE: 17-2051.00Perform engineering duties in planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of building structures, and facilities, such as roads, railroads, airports, bridges, harbors, channels, dams, irrigation projects, pipelines, power plants, and water and sewage systems. |
|
ArchitectsSOC CODE: 17-3011.00Prepare detailed drawings of architectural and structural features of buildings or drawings and topographical relief maps used in civil engineering projects, such as highways, bridges, and public works. Use knowledge of building materials, engineering practices, and mathematics to complete drawings. |
|
AccountantsSOC CODE: 13-2011.00Examine, analyze, and interpret accounting records to prepare financial statements, give advice, or audit and evaluate statements prepared by others. Install or advise on systems of recording costs or other financial and budgetary data. |
This last one hurts because I used to work at EY and a lot of my friends and contacts are accountants.
These are 3 excellent examples of how the site works. Remember the predictions are about the status of your job in only eight years from now. And it’s not just your job. It’s the whole environment in which you work. So even if you’re a professional engineer and deemed ‘Totally Safe’ from advancing technology changes, the people you work with, and therefore how you work, is going to change. You'll still have a job "but not as we know it".
Of course naysayers will argue that the numbers are wrong and "she'll be right". But we’re all intelligent beings and it doesn’t take much reflection to see how technology and automation has impacted in the last few years. It’s also widely acknowledged the rate of change is increasing every year.
So what to do?
The first thing is to acknowledge that this is not trivial. Own it. Rebranding or mutual admiration groups cheering up each other individually or en-masse by pronouncing "you’ll still be indispensable as a advisor" will not stop the advances. That’s head in the sand stuff. And as the next eight years tick down, you won’t be able to slowly transform into something different. You need to take a determined leap.
Whole professions need to react and quickly so. Whether they do or not, you and I need to make our own plans regardless of any support from employers, professional bodies, governments or elsewhere.
Remember the old saying “Today is the first day of the rest of your life”?
Make it count!!
How do you think you’ll be affected by technology changes over the next 8 years?