Prestigious public and private bodies concur in their analysis of the impact of the latest technological breakthroughs–digitalization, robotics, etc.- and those currently embryonic on the labour market: the emergence of new skills –some of which already being valued during selection processes- will be closely linked to an almost absolute transformation.
So much so that, while the World Economic Forum forecasts that a third of the skills under the command of the most sought-after employees will change by 2020, several studies point out that between 75% and 80% of the professions in demand by 2030 are still non-existent.
This revolution will come hand in hand with the irrepressible development of digitalization and artificial intelligence. The latter will trigger, according to a report elaborated by PwC called Sizing the Price, the extinction of millions of jobs that will be replaced by a similar number of newly-coined ones.
In addition to the weight new technologies will carry over talent attraction, the human factor will be still of crucial importance to staff composition within companies. In order to fill those near-future positions, people with great analytical, data interpretation capacity and tactical and strategic mindset will be required. Those professionals with certain cognitive, social and emotional skills who are capable of increasing overall productivity will benefit from the future opportunities of the labour market, as pointed out by a study conducted by McKinsey & Company. But, what kind of job offers will we be able to find towards the end of the next decade in job portals or in HR sections of companies? Apart from the great opportunities that automation, digitalization and Big Data will bring along, kids currently in school will have a promising future in fields such as environmental sciences, healthcare, alternative energies, gerontology, as well as cultural and creative sectors.
There are already some who dare to give a name to those new professions, as reflected in the study New Renaissance Hotspots developed by the Institute of Arts and Ideas and Kjaer Global for Huawei about the creation of 1.1 million jobs in Europe by 2025 and 1.47 million by 2030.
Among the future jobs mentioned in that report are the following: AI educational programmer; data ethics and privacy controller; robotic rights advocate; IoT architect; VR time-travel guide; and circular economy specialists.
Also, another two that will become part of the HR department staff are mentioned: personal and organization purpose coach, who will help employees to find and define their objectives; and well-being coordinator, whose goal will be to carry out, eventually, an optimized working environment.
The future of the labour market also entails a great challenge from a training perspective. The EU is already working on a fellowship programme that will allow thousands of students to acquire digital and artificial intelligence skills. And there are already degrees in some universities preparing the pioneering classes who will work in jobs whose vacancies are still unavailable in any company.
Sources: PwC, International Monetary Fund, McKinsey & Company and Huawei