Evolving today’s jobs for the future

Jarryd Townson, Principal Modernizer / Director, VIVIFY

’ Jobs of the future’ may be a buzz phrase, but does anyone truly understand its meaning? When considering jobs of the future we need to start with the ‘now’ and the ‘why’, then stop talking and start doing. That’s where ‘Trade X’ and ‘Data X’ were born.

Recent dialogue alludes to the theory that our current jobs are changing and will eventually diminish. These rumours add to doubt, mistrust and uncertainty in people’s minds. We see research that demonstrates how jobs will be impacted and which ones may no longer exist. However, as a society we are fearful of suggesting which ones they will be, due to the speed of evolution in technology and the lack of insight and understanding. This type of fear-mongering feeds the concept that society won’t be employable, and our children will be masters of machines. The ‘vanilla’ conversation is often around the fact that people will need to up-skill or re-skill, due to the implementation and evolution of automation, augmentation, robotics, virtual reality, IOT and IIOT, AI, machine learning, block chain and more…but this will only apply to the people that are in the workforce now. Ultimately, the conversations are only based on current knowledge and perceptions – not future thinking. We see trends in the development of upskilling our current roles/jobs and in many ways, industries are working on micro-credentialing to evolve the current workforce. However, it’s vital to start moving future generations into new roles now, rather than waiting until it’s too late. Think of it as giving children a tutor for something they aren’t good at, yet not providing a mentor for the things they excel in.

Trade X, the trade of the future

The fourth industrial revolution is upon us - the age of intelligence, where everything is rapidly becoming smart, connected and personalised. We are utilising new manufacturing methods and automation is becoming the norm; however, our trades are not yet keeping pace. We need to be evolving our trades for the future workforce who are starting employment now, in tandem with upskilling people that are heading for retirement. A two-pronged approach will not disadvantage our youth/ future workforce. At some point, the completion of a ‘future trade’ will intersect with the completion of upskilling the current workforce. We need our new tradies prepared for the future, rather than needing to upskill along the way, to then potentially still be left behind. It is unrealistic to expect that they would start in a traditional role now and then be micro-credentialed as they grow. With only a known handful of trades seen to evolve over the past 100 years, there’s proof of the need for evolution. The best example of this is the trade of a blacksmith evolving to boilermaker and welder/fabricator, mostly due to a change in tools, technologies and techniques. There’s a similarity to the situation that we now find ourselves in, with the inclusion of additive manufacturing methods, IOT devices, Robotics and Automation.

‘Trade X’ is a proposed five-year qualification that would encapsulate traditional TAFE elements, coupled with elements traditionally learned at University. It is less about reinventing the wheel and more about combining components of existing trades with additional 4IR thinking and/or elements. Some of these qualifications may already be designed for up-skilling/re-skilling with the concept of micro-credentialing and would make a positive progression to constructing the additional skills and knowledge required for the future. ‘Trade X’ ensure the inclusion of overarching skills that are relevant for the future including:

• Basic pneumatics and hydraulics • Mechanical fitting • Auto electrical components • Basic welding/fabrication • Electronics incorporating additive manufacturing methods, robotics, automation, coding and CAD

Data X, the elephant in the room

As technology evolves, we are faced with an overload of data, often coined ‘Big Data’. With phrases like, ‘data is money’, society starts to get concerned about who will control and access data, and most importantly, how will we use it. The latter is the most important because we are creating, housing and talking about data. We believe that the next generation of data analysis role could be called ‘Data X’ or what is now being coined as an ‘Interoperability Architect’ - the next role to sprout from the evolution of innovation. The skill and craft of an Interoperability Architect (or Aggregator) will be the ability to combine ‘big’ data that is now being captured from various sources (sensors, nodes and so on, probably maintained by ‘Trade X’), then identify new correlations, opportunities and implementation capabilities to feed into machine learning/AI processes. This would provide interoperability across a digital ecosystem for an omnipotent, panoramic outcome. The concept of an Interoperability Architect is derived from the evolution of technology now being designed by mechatronics engineers and others, that will be maintained, improved and repaired by ‘Trade X’, coded by developers, measured by IOT and IIOT devices and the like, evaluated by data analysts and aggregated by Interoperability Architects. So, when considering what you’ll suggest to your children as a job for the future, will you get them to do what’s been done for centuries or choose something that is evolving with time and technology? How long these roles, or something similar, will last before the next iteration arrives is unknown. But if we don’t start now, we will be left behind. The future is now, so let’s not wait to predict what we already know.  So, when considering what you’ll suggest to your children as a job for the future, will you get them to do what’s been done for centuries or choose something that is evolving with time and technology?