In the future, ‘the sexiest job on the planet will be the statistician’

GEN Y, listen up. We all know that the workplace is changing, and that “technology” is the buzzword of the 21st Century. But what does it all mean? And what can you do to stay on top?

Generation Y, listen up. We all know that the workplace is changing, and that many job advertisements today feature terms such as “technologically-savvy” or “social media-oriented”.

We are told flexibility is the key, and that the 9 to 5, full-time shift has all but disappeared.

So how to make sense of a future so muddled with theories, advice and circumspection?

Below is a breakdown of what gen Y — and those little Gen Zs — can expect to look forward to as they grow up and face the big, wide world of responsible adulthood.

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The changing workplace

Imagine a world where 90 per cent of all jobs are in aged care, the environment and technology.

Mid to high-level skill jobs — when they’re not being eroded by smart technology — are few and far between, and not everyone is suited to manual work.

So what can young workers do now to make sure they have a job in ten years’ time?

Aged care

Peter Gahan, Director of the University of Melbourne’s Centre For Workplace Leadership, has flagged three areas — aged care, the environment and the technology sector — where most Gen Ys should be looking to upskill.

“We have a rapidly ageing population, and there will be many jobs relating to geriatrics and human services as a result,” he says.

“There will be an emphasis on caring for people, and a growth in jobs in the medical and psychological areas.”

Geriatrics ... Australia’s ageing population means that much of the gen Y cohort will be working in aged care and other medical-related areas. Picture: Supplied.

Generation Y — and younger — should be looking into psychology, medicine (and all of its variants) physiotherapy and anything else that will help a rapidly ageing demographic transition from working adults to retried — and increasingly ill, both mentally and physically — people.

Care ... Compassion and empathy will be essential in an economy where geriatrics jobs prevail. Picture: Supplied.

Environment

Another unavoidable area of growth, says Mr Gahan, will be in anything environment-related.

“Whether design, or thinking through biology and horticultural type of stuff, the physical and natural environments.

“It’s not just to do with architecture — it can be urban environments as we seek to integrate urban design with care of nature, the revitalisation of urban communities and more.”

Urban planning ... Understanding how to work with nature will become hugely beneficial for future workers, experts say. Picture: Supplied.

Technology

This third area is already on everyone’s minds as educational institutions and workplaces slowly attempt to adapt to a digital future.

“The future age is of the geek — the sexiest job on the planet will be the statistician,” Mr Gahan says.

“Someone who can read data, to interpret and analyse all the data and invisible patterns from smart phones will be highly valued.”

Mr Gahan says that contrary to popular opinion — and past patterns of technological change — the new wave of technology (what he calls “smart” technology) will steadily erode mid-level jobs, and not the low-skilled, manual labour so often cited as replaceable.

Future-proofing students ... A Melbourne high school student poses with an iPad to show that reading for literacy development and enjoyment can cut across platforms. Picture: Steve Tanner.

“For example, for a young lawyer coming out of law school, one of the tasks you’d be doing in the early years of your career would be document discovery. which takes up a lot of hours.

“Although in humans, you need somebody with legal training and skills to do it, a lot of that document discovery is now being automated — a whole layer of work is being atomised in the law industry.”

“Technology is beginning to destroy mid-skilled jobs.”

A digital worker ... Smart technology is beginning to erode mid-to-high skilled jobs. Picture: AFP.

But what does all this actually mean in the real world?

How can today’s youth prepare for a world where work will be severely restricted to a few fields?

“It’s all about developing skills in the disruptive technology areas,” says JobSpot’s Chief Financial Officer, Glenn Smith.

“Gen Y is very much part of the cohort of individuals who are going to be involved in digital technology.”

Below is a list of the skills and knowledge gen Y — and anyone wishing to excel in a new-age environment — needs to master to future proof their employability.

Coding

Hailed as the skill to posses in the future, coding is still considered the domain of a select group of people — those who work at Google and Apple, or hackers.

But for many industry leaders, teaching children to code from a young age is the best method to equip them for the future workplace.

“Unless we change our curriculum from kindergarten to grade 6, they will not have the skills for the future ... and will be left behind,” Mr Smith says.

“We need to teach children how to code, and to see the enjoyment in coding.”

Grade school ... Children born today will never know a world without smart technology. Picture: Supplied.

Despite schools trying to embrace the concept of a digital future by introducing computers and iPads into the classroom, more emphasis needs to be put on the very technical nature of a digital world.

Mr Smith says knowing how to code can enhance anything from a small florist business to a multinational corporation.

Never too early ... Children must learn to code from a young age, in order to get ahead in an increasingly technological world. Picture: Supplied.

“They can create their own applications which will enable them to sell their flowers via mobile means and more,” he said.

“If they don’t know how to code and create new apps, they will lack the skills required by large-scale organisations like CSIRO, Uber, HP and more in 10 to 20 years time.”

Multi-disciplinary skills

Being able to simultaneously navigate online and manual systems, as well as talk to people, will one day

Currently, a combination of social skills, technical skills and industry-specific expertise is a bonus: in ten years time, it’s going to be a prerequisite.

“Opportunities for individuals who are only suited — or only desire — one type of role, will become less available in the future,” Mr Smith says.

“By learning more than one skill set, people will have a chance of advancing and have more choices in the work that they do.”

Workers who only possess skills in one area will not be able to retain their jobs, says Mr Smith, but will also miss out on promotions when their more able — and open-minded — colleagues display multiple skills, and a willingness to adapt, to different tasks within the one role.

Cross-cultural competency

According to a report by University of Phoenix, an understanding of how other cultures work — and approach work — is going to become a necessary skill for the future worker.

“You need to be able to understand other cultures to work in the future,” says Lisa Annese, CEO of Diversity Council Australia.

She says that cross-cultural competency does not mean “the place of birth, languages spoken or nationality”, but understanding what other cultures value, both socially and professionally.

Multiculturalism ... Understanding how different cultures approach work will be an essential workplace skill in just a few years time. Picture: Supplied.

“For example, if you get work in Japan, you’re going to need to know that the values and success factors there are very different to Australia’s,” she says.

“For example, in Australia we’re very focused on youth, while in Japan, they’re much more focused on tenure and age.

“There is respect given there to people who have been there for longer — so unless you’ve got that cultural sensitivity, you could make some major faux pas working internationally.”

Understanding the might of the internet — and Facebook

We’ve all heard the adage that Facebook is “taking over the world”.

This is probably true — or will be, in a couple of years time, and it’s best to start understanding the power of this seemingly innocuous friendship website now.

A recent study suggests that just based on your Facebook likes, a computer model can predict your personality better than your friends — and even your family.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, authors Michal Kosinski, Wu Youyou and David Stillwell used a computer model to gauge subjects’ personal characteristics based on what they “liked” on Facebook.

The results? The more “likes” you click, the easier it is for a computer to understand the nuances of your personality.

But how does this affect gen Y’s prospects within the workplace?

Know what you like ... Facebook “likes” will prove a goldmine for future job recruiters. Picture: Facebook.

In an interview with the New York Times, researcher Ms Wu said that computers could also pick up on how much people on Facebook used drugs or drank alcohol, and which subjects they were most likely to study.

“In that sense, computers, to some extent, know you better than people know themselves,” Ms Wu said.

Such specific technology would no doubt be used by recruiters to weed out potential candidates, Dr Kosinski (another author) said.

Computer personality testing has “the potential to change how we see the job market”, with potential employers searching through candidate Facebook profiles and matching their skills and personalities to the advertised job even before a face-to-face interview was organised.

By eliminating the human component of job interviews — intuition — this type of computer recruiting would effectively disadvantage those who are not technology-literate.

“The models can get it wrong, [and] some people will never get a shot in the new workforce [because of this].

Originally published as In the future, ‘the sexiest job on the planet will be the statistician’