How Tech is shaping the Future of Jobs

Recently, I was on a panel discussion at a management institute sharing views on ‘leveraging analytics & data science in business’ and I was asked a profound question – how will tech and AI impact our jobs and will we have more or less jobs in the future. One side of the equation shows that computers and robots will automate jobs and replace humans, while there is enough evidence from studies by BCG, Faethm, McKinsey & WEF on the other side that existing jobs will get redefined and more new jobs will be created via reimagining the future consumer needs. After all, a decade back who had heard about job titles like Data scientist, AI stylist, Drone operator, Dropship photographer, Autonomous car engineer, Responsible sourcing manager et al.

While we make progress with digitalization & AI, Hollywood movies like ‘Awake’ also throw up a future potential scenario when a catastrophic event like a solar flare leaves anything that is digital & electric powerless.

New tech & megatrends in the areas of artificial intelligence(AI), automation, digital business models, robotics, 3D printing, blockchain, IoT, AR & VR & digitalization is driving massive innovation and will shape the future of jobs in four unique ways – remove, reduce and redefine jobs in existing sectors and reimagine new ones in new emerging sectors, ultimately leading to a net positive effect on jobs creation. Here’s how:

REMOVE

Jobs that consist of a few repetitive tasks done by humans are getting replaced by machines. Think of a toll booth or a parking ticket attendant whose job got replaced by machines. Or a financial data entry executive who would manually check invoices and key in specific data into invoice payment systems. Companies now leverage document parser solutions like Parseur & Document AI to automate & parse invoices in real-time, thereby removing manual invoice data entry that is time-consuming & error prone.

A few more examples include factory workers, travel agents, lift operators, warehouse workers whose jobs involved work that was repetitive, hazardous, monotonous, required heavy-lifting and non-stop work. Their roles are getting replaced with machines having automation technologies, AI-powered software, self-serve websites & apps and robots that can now handle more of such jobs accurately & faster.

REDUCE

In some roles, automation & AI-powered machines are reducing the manpower requirements and making business operations more efficient.

Bank Cashiers: Years back, when I would go the local bank, there would be 4-5 cashiers. Today, there are hardly 1-2, due to the rise of the ubiquitous ATM’s, digital currency adoption and internet banking reducing the in-person branch visits.

In the talent hiring sector, AI is beginning to play an important role in the hiring process, as resumes are rejected by an automated applicant tracking system(ATS), before a few shortlisted ones are seen by a human recruiter. A 2018 LinkedIn survey showed that hiring managers were using AI to save time (67%), remove human bias (43%) and deliver best candidate matches (31%). HireVue offers end-to-end hiring experience platform with video interview software, conversational AI, and assessments

Visual Merchandising is the science of designing visually appealing product displays & planograms having store fixtures and floors that attract, engage, and sell products to shoppers. Firms typically hire a VM specialist for every store or rely on manual audits by 3rd party companies to understand if products are displayed to maximize attention & sales. Store managers would then have to wait for the feedback to make relevant changes on shop floor. Today, AI-powered VM apps are available with image recognition software, which can give instant feedback after comparing with pre-set display standards and removing the need to have dedicated VM manpower or expensive manual audits.

REDEFINE

As technology takes up the boring repetitive work, humans shift to more creative, cognitive & value-added work that machines can’t do. This is where, both companies and employees will need to put in effort in reskilling & renewing the job content as it gets enabled & augmented by new tech.

Bank executives: Opening a bank account would take days, but today, with a tablet or smartphone, video chat and instant document upload & verification, an account gets opened virtually in less than 10 mins. The job of the bank executive has been made simpler & faster with new technologies running in backend. Similarly, mortgage applications are getting approved in a few hours rather than weeks.

Retail Sales Promoters: Today, new Customer Data Platforms(CDP) present a customer's single view information to a store sales promoter who can quickly become aware about a walk-in customer’s interests, his/her product search history, preferences, previous purchases and coupons & loyalty points based on a personally identifiable information(PII). Basis this, the system then shares an AI-recommended personalized set of products which the promoters can propose to the customer. The promoter's role moves to a consultative & an AI-empowered selling agent.

Teachers: As AR and VR redefines teaching content, school teachers & college professors will have to adjust not only to hybrid & remote education learning modes, but also learn how to deliver engaging lectures that involve 3D content that students will be able to immerse themselves in. With VR glasses, books can become 3D, students can be literally walking in science museums viewing dinosaurs to even appreciating the streets of Roman empire and the Egyptian pyramids. Apps like the Google Expeditions & Tour Creator bring teaching and learning from anywhere on any device via creating immersive VR and AR learning experiences for millions of students around the world.

Doctors are using and validating their assumptions by utilizing AI & robust amount of data and leveraging predictive models for diagnosis & managing a patient’s healthcare better. 

Such new knowledge-enabled jobs will become a reality as machines with intelligent sensors & AI-powered data will enable the less-skilled workers to augment and reinvent their jobs & make themselves more productive & efficient to deliver better customer experiences.

REIMAGINE

As processes, information & machines gets digitized & connected in real-time, digital technology will enable new business activity and create new sectors thereby also creating new jobs.

AgriTech: Hello Tractor, a smartphone matchmaking service app that connects small farmers in Africa with tractor owners looking to rent their farm equipment, has already helped nearly half a million farmers so far. John Deere, offers its tractors equipped with sensors & GPS that generates insights & analytics for both equipment owners for predictive maintenance & location and for the farmer to grow & sell better. Hello Tractor’s IoT platform combined with the business model innovation has helped create a new sector and created new jobs for farm equipment owners, agriculture scientists, dealers, bank employees and farmers in need of services to earn more.

Remote deliveries are becoming a possibility by drones, which is creating new jobs like Local Village Logistics Officer who runs a logistics center delivering products & services to a catchment of villages, charging the drones, collecting payments, offering quick replacements, supporting local installations & doing local repairs.

Against a backdrop of an increasing usage of cloud technology, more connected devices, and people’s data being captured, an Inc. article in partnership with Cognizant imagines 21 future careers that may emerge in the next 10 years. Some of these new gigs would be – a Data detective(who can investigate the big data, create hypothesis, insights and come up with predictions), Ethical Sourcing Officer(an organization's internal police that ensures that the priorities and ethical commitments of a big company are actually practiced), an Artificial intelligence Business Development Manager (someone who can sell AI-generated raw or packaged data to companies), an AI-assisted health-care worker, Genomic portfolio director(someone who uses Crispr, other gene-editing technologies to turn out promising new meds), Financial wellness coach(when cash becomes obsolete, bitcoin automated loans, micro-payments become mainstream, people will need help), Digital Tailor(customized apparel produced by fashion tech seamstress based on an omni-channel ordered merchandise), Virtual store Sherpa(a virtual store Sherpa advising customers about their needs in virtual reality, advises them on products, and then dispatches a drone to deliver it), Highway Controller(to assist in regulating road and airspace in the inner city, to manage autonomous cars and drones) et al.

Global Tech futurist Cathy Hackl predicts that brand new roles that marry one’s education background with new technologies like AR, VR, 3D spatial, voice and computer-human interaction will get created like a Hologram stylist(one who works with customers for a desired fit for ready-to-wear garments, tests and confirms garments that translate to virtual or augmented reality try-ons and would be familiar with fashion algorithms), Virtual designer(a person who will be responsible for creating innovative virtual couture for a fashion brand’s multiple devices, platforms, and contexts), Augmented Reality Content Creator & Designer, Robotics Customer Experience marketer(a B2R2C – a business to robot to consumer role in which a marketer manages customer experience of voice assistants, chatbots & robots serving customers), Personal Brain Trainer(one who helps people with disabilities or brain challenges to learn and use brain-computer interfaces to help them lead a better life) to name a few.

A 2011 study by McKinsey found that the Internet removed 500K jobs in France in the previous 15 years, but it also created 1.2 million new ones, a net addition of 700K. Similarly, a 2020 World Economic Forum study shared that the increase of machines and automation will eliminate 85 Mn jobs by 2025, but 97 Mn new jobs will be created, thereby a net add of 12 Mn jobs.

So, don’t be worried! The good news is that leading companies like Faethm offer a cloud analytics platform that uses AI to model the impact of emerging technologies on any economy, sector, company, workforce and even individual jobs. With the help of data science and analytical models, they can predict the implications of automation, augmentation and addition at a technology and job level and then help transition a company’s current employees to tomorrow's jobs using their reskilling and upskilling platform.

As tech & innovations like automation, AI, robotics and digital evolve and influence who, what, when, where & why humans work and the nature of work they do, company leaders, educators, governments and workers will have to work together to evolve their workforce to this new future. I’m optimistic that as new tech becomes pervasive, we will have to not just reskill, upskill and redeploy people but also reboot and ready everyone for the future of reimagined jobs. 

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