What skills will be relevant in 2030?

This is the second in a series of three articles on the future of work. In my first article, I looked at the future of hiring. In this post, I explore what skills will be relevant in the next decade. This is a huge and fascinating topic so I'll summarise what interests me, knowing that I will only scratch the surface.

Experts have estimated how many roles are likely to be lost to robots. While the numbers hitting the headlines are significant, it seems that the consensus is that technology has proved to be a creator rather than a destroyer of jobs. According to a PWC study across 200,000 jobs in 29 countries, AIs will create more jobs than they destroy. So the impact will be net neutral or net positive.

I've been having fun browsing www.willrobotstakemyjob.com. If you're a bus driver, it's bad news, there is a 67% likelihood that the role will be replaced by AI and robots. Accountants are "doomed" at 94%. I was surprised that for lawyers there is only a 4% likelihood as I would have expected automation to have a significant impact. Teachers are "totally safe" at 1%. Many roles are quite broad and the reality is that AIs are still too "narrow" and focused on specific tasks to completely replace them. As expected, more repetitive, lower-skilled jobs are likely to be more at risk, particularly in countries where labour is expensive.

I try not to be too directive about what my children learn but I do wonder what work will look like for them in 15 years time and how they can be prepared. They are still quite young, I haven't yet introduced them to coding but we play games that introduce problem solving and sequencing and Minecraft became a hit during lockdown. Like so many children, having spent most of the last year at home instead of school, they've become very capable with technology. For now, I think it's sufficient for them to be curious, ensure they have confidence in using technology and embrace any aspects of learning that interest them. Through every period of accelerated technological progress, curiosity has served people well.

To the relief of less techie parents, I don't think the future is all about coders. In fact, technology is becoming more and more accessible so that people can orchestrate and create technical products with simple interfaces and no knowledge of coding. The world will need people who can think about how to use different technologies, people who can engage and enrich the human experience creatively. There will be a huge demand for people who can understand the possibility of technologies like AIs, see patterns and use that to innovate and create new opportunities.

In Digital, we talk about the importance of "digital fluency" . This isn't about in-depth knowledge but about being up-to-date with emerging technologies in your industry and knowing how to leverage them to solve problems, improve the customer experience or reduce costs. This kind of fluency is what I think will continue to be important for people entering the workplace and for all of us as we consider how to keep our skillsets relevant. Being adaptable and open will continue to be important, the start-up tech concept of "pivoting" remains powerful: if we can be prepared to fail and try something new, it will sustain innovation and keep us relevant.

The one thing I can be certain of is that I am going to be learning a lot over the coming years, particularly from my children. My eldest wants to start playing Roblox. I'm going to grit my teeth, learn how to play and be grateful for all these new learning experiences.

How about you, what are you learning or doing to keep your skills relevant?

All views are my own.