Future of work
The 'Workforce of the future' study looks at four possible Worlds of Work for 2030 to help you kick-start your thinking. The yellow, green, red and blue worlds, are the upcoming trends in the future of work where organizations are already investing in and are expected to invest in within the next five years. This isn’t a time to sit back and wait for events to unfold. To be prepared for the future, you have to understand it.
A lot of the jobs that exist today will be automated by 2030. Yet there will also be a vast array of new jobs available. Our students need not limit themselves to the jobs on this list. In this very exciting time, we want our students to see that their dream job doesn’t exist yet. It turns out that disciplinary specialization and technical depth are not the only important prerequisites for employment. While hiring, employers will place the greatest value on demonstrated proficiency in skills and knowledge that cut across disciplines, even more than the major the student has pursed in the university. This is because they are interested in people who can comprehend and solve complex problems that requires balancing and integrating conflicting insights from several disciplines. A student with a holistic education that integrates the arts, humanities, sciences, and engineering makes for a very attractive candidate for the employers.
In fact the future of work is not about the degrees. It is about skills. More and more companies rely less and less on college degrees as proof of ability. They are offering well paying jobs to those with requisite skills. And no university course, can ever insulate the students from the unpredictability of technological progression and disruption. Employers of the future are really looking for people with the proven ability to study at the depth. Also in the future our student graduates, could be changing jobs and careers often throughout their working years. Hence our students will be well served by skills and competencies that are transferable from one job to another, as well as by the ability to be adaptable, lifelong learners who can pick up the new knowledge they may need for success and fulfillment in each new job.
For example By 2030, there will be at least 300 million more people aged 65 years and older than there were in 2014. As people age, their spending patterns shift, with a pronounced increase in spending on healthcare and other personal services. This will create significant new demand for a range of occupations, including doctors, nurses, and health technicians but also home-health aides, personal-care aides, and nursing assistants in many countries.
Investments in renewable energy, such as wind and solar; energy-efficiency technologies; and adaptation and mitigation of climate change may create new demand for workers in a range of occupations, including manufacturing, construction, and installation.