The Future of Work - Part 2

What will jobs in the future look like?

Today’s newsletter is the second instalment of our 3-part series exploring the future of work. In the first instalment, we explored where people may work in the future. In this weeks newsletter, we are going to explore what jobs of the future will look like.

It is inevitable that the types of jobs people perform will change as the needs of consumers, society and companies evolve, along with improvements in technology. However, currently it feels like we are in a pivotal moment in the future of work.

With the explosion of AI, it appears we are experiencing an epoch shift in the job market. Even though AI as a concept can be traced back to the 1950’s, recent developments have made it much more of a reality, with many feeling it will impact the job market in many ways. Although many people are worried about AI taking their jobs, we don’t buy into this narrative. What is much more likely is that jobs will evolve rather than disappear.

It can be easy to be caught up in the AI hype and its impact on our lives, however there are many other trends and factors that will affect what jobs will look like in the near future. Things like COVID, climate change and changing political landscapes have created demand for the creation of new jobs and will continue to in the future.

So what are the jobs of the future?

Remote Work Specialists

Prior to covid, less than 5% of companies had a remote work policy. Now, it is difficult to imagine a company that doesn’t have one. Due to this, there is going to be increasing demand for people who have a grasp of how to develop a WFH policy that works for both employer and employee’s.

What is the best WFH policy to maintain company morale but also maximise productivity? What types of things matter when measuring this? The industry, type of work, even down to each individual employee are things that may be considered. This will no doubt become a priority for companies, leading to them hiring people who understand the dynamics of workplace culture and productivity.

Flood/Tidewater Architect

Although a profession that already exists, the demand for tidewater architects is increasing YoY. The impact of climate change is forcing people to consider how to build in area’s that may be prone to flooding now and in the future as sea levels rise. in simple terms, Tidewater/Flood architects are essentially experts in building structures than can deal with flooding.

Sustainability specialists

Companies and governments across the world have made commitments to reach net zero by 2050 (at the latest). As defined by the UN, “net zero means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests for instance.” This ambitious goal has lead to increasing demand for people who are experts and leaders in sustainability to come and work for some of the largest companies in the world as well as the governments of the largest countries in the world. Due to the impact of climate change on our world, this issue cannot be taken lightly.

The above is just a selection of jobs that have been created in the recent past, there are many more that we could have mentioned. What is for certain is there will be many more jobs created that did not exist 10 years, 5 years or ever 1 year ago.

It is difficult to predict what exactly many of these jobs will be, but as outlined in this newsletter, the best way to try predict what they’ll look like is to follow trends going on in the world right now - AI and climate change in particular.

What else is going on in the world of tech?

OpenAI are so back! We’re still scratching our heads at what went on over the last week at OpenAI. But founder, Sam Altman is back at the helm, with a new board (unsurprisingly).

Want to see the transaction volume of businesses using Stripe this Black Friday/Cyber Monday? Click here. Nearly $4 billion spent at the time of writing. With over 10,000 business having their best day ever using Stripe.

Speaking of Black Friday… Here are some of the best tech deals according to The Verge.

Weekly Shout-out’s

Books – One up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch. For any investors out there, this is a must read.