Managing the swelling wave of technological change will require a whole-of-economy approach.
Deloitte’s ‘Short Fuse, Big Bang’ series of reports included a stark warning about the future of work, predicting that one-third of the Australian economy faces “imminent and substantial disruption by digital technologies and business models by 2025”.
With Gross State Product approaching $300 billion over that timeframe, $100 billion of Western Australia’s economic activity could be at stake – and the jobs that go with it.
Newly elected Labor Member for Perth, John Carey, explored this challenge in his maiden speech to state parliament.
“The rapid changes in technology are dramatically recasting our jobs environment. Technology is the disrupting agent of the 21st century. With this disruption to industry come the creation of new roles and the transformation of existing jobs requiring new skill sets, while also making other jobs redundant. This creates uncertainty,” Mr Carey said.
Supporting the transition
To what extent can we design and support the transition to new kinds of jobs that will be relevant in our increasingly digital future?
Research indicates that 60 per cent of Australian students are currently studying or training for jobs that either won’t exist (due to automation) or will be markedly different (due to the influence of computers) in the next 10 to 15 years. Clearly the education system needs to evolve, but it’s not as simple as embedding science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills in the curriculum.
According to the non-profit Foundation of Young Australians, the skills most sought after by employers to satisfy future needs are digital literacy, critical thinking, creativity and problem solving.
Expanding the focus from STEM to ESTEEM (including economics and entrepreneurship) will help students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, with real-world applications for businesses to create jobs of the future.
As far as reform goes, this is a no-brainer; but it would take a major educational and cultural realignment, and a shift in resources allocation to achieve – a long-term investment for the benefit of our children.
What about all those whose jobs are at risk in the meantime, though?
Outplacement, or as PR/HR would have us call it, ‘career transition’, takes place at some companies, but how often is this meaningful versus a band-aid solution?
At the individual level, I am more encouraged by my experience with a private car driver in Queensland last year. Instead of complaining about Uber and self-driving cars taking his livelihood, the business owner set about re-imagining his role and the value he provides to clients.
The assets remain the same (his person and his car), but rather than thinking about a vehicle to move people from A to B, he is reinventing himself as a personal tour guide, with the length of each journey providing a chance to share those personal stories and local touches that now have clients recommending him to work colleagues on interstate trips.
This is a personal example, but what about industry (or even workforce-wide) retraining and continuous learning opportunities?
I expect we will see more bite-size training courses, perhaps even co-designed by employees and educators to promote more agile and relevant skill development.
Who offers, accredits and, most important of all, ensures that programs continue to evolve and keep pace with industries and society’s needs? In a world where change driven by technology is one of few constants, this is not an easy question to answer.
The time is now
Whatever your job, some if not all of your work will be replaced by software, robots and artificial intelligence in years to come. In many professions this is already happening; particularly with software, where processes can be simplified to lines of code, freeing our time to focus on more productive tasks in the name of efficiency, with the collateral damage of job losses in the process.
While change can be confronting, the pages of history remind us that all is not lost. Sure, there were winners and losers along the way, but on the whole, how much better off is society having transitioned through the agricultural and industrial eras?
Low-skilled roles were replaced, first by horses and then machines. Some 90 per cent of farm jobs were lost over a 100-year period; with 75 per cent of factory roles meeting the same fate over a shorter timeframe.
Our biggest challenge in the digital era may well be the increasing rate of change, with estimates ranging from a 15-25 year transition this time around.
This takes me back to the Mr Carey’s inaugural speech in parliament.
“Change is inevitable and is unstoppable. But we should never dismiss the genuine fears and concerns that accompany this disruption,” Mr Carey said.
“We need the type of political leadership that listens and generates solutions with our local communities to respond to this changing landscape.”
Does WA want to be technology maker or a technology taker in the post-mining boom era? What can we do to support the transition of workers whose traditional roles are at risk, and ensure our children are equipped for a future where uncertainty is the norm?
Sticking our heads in the sand is not a strategy.
