The world has faced a lot of technological advancement, more so over the past decade. Millennials in particular are aware of this since we’ve grown up in a climate of rapid development. For example, remember the change from videotapes to compact discs, and eventually to DVDs?
A lot has certainly changed over the years, so we can only imagine what the world will be like in the near future. As it is, we’re already having enough anxiety thinking about the future, but now there could be another threat looming over our heads – a robot invasion taking over our jobs!
Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration lah, but a study that was recently published gained worldwide attention, especially from millennials. This was because it assessed a total of 702 jobs to see which of them were most susceptible to computerisation in the near future.
What’s most alarming is that 60 percent of students are studying for careers that probably won’t exist soon, and that our generation could face an average of 17 different jobs, including 5 career changes! What?!
Here’s the full list of careers that are most at risk of being replaced by computers. Just think of this as something to keep in mind if you’re thinking of pursuing any of these jobs:
Although it may seem like the future’s hopeless for these jobs, that’s not the case. In an interview with The Guardian, one of the chief investigators of the study, Carl Benedikt Frey, said that computerisation does not always mean job losses. He stressed that the study doesn’t make any specific prediction, but just points out the jobs that will most likely be subject to computerisation.
This means that most of these jobs won’t be completely obsolete or redundant. Instead, the job scope will most likely be redefined. The jobs that will most likely be completely taken over by computers will probably be those that involve a lot of repetition and predictability, with some level of routine.
“Eh, but what about the jobs that are safe?” we hear you ask! Well, there’s a list for that too. Check it out here:
For now, the jobs that are relatively safe involve those in the creative and scientific fields, but even that could be subject to change! Frey says,
“For now, humans are still best at creativity but there’s a caveat there. I can’t guarantee you that in 20 years a computer won’t be the most creative entity on the planet. There are already computers that can paint original works of art. So, in 20 years who knows how far it’s going to go?”
Huh??? So how, lah?! So stress!
Sigh. Well, we guess the main takeaway from this whole study is that nobody 100 per cent knows what our futures will be like, in terms of career. All we can do is be aware of the risks we could face and prepare a back-up plan to fall back on!
In the meantime, you can check out the full study here if you’re interested to know more details.
Also read: Engineering Graduate Struggles to Find Work, Resorts to Cleaning Houses for Money