The rapid pace at which technology is developing is something that the world has never seen. This exponential growth of technology brings a threat of extinction to the traditional employment. Moreover, the business that does not keep up with this pace will experience huge disruptions.
FIVE MILLION JOBS WILL GET WIPED OUT
World Economic Forum (WEF) in its report, “The Future of Jobs”, forecasted that technology will snatch away more than 7 million jobs and will provide approximately 2 million jobs. The report urged the governments of various countries to prepare the workforce of their nation to accommodate with the changing future. If the work force is not prepared for the change, it will lead to unemployment and inequality. Additionally, there has always been an argument about the effect of technological change on developing and under-developed countries. In the globalized economy, the companies prefer to invest in advanced economies. Such decision will affect the job opportunities of the developing countries. For example, the demand for assembly work in developing and under-developed countries would reduce if the robots take over their jobs in the high-income countries. For sustainable development, the technological investment should be in-line with the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals.
With the favorable economy, automation will first target the jobs that are non-skilled and that lack human contribution. For example, robots will replace the workers cutting keys in a hardware store. Another example is software replacing the clerks in a law office to prepare discovery.
EMPLOYMENT IN AUTOMATION
A survey from Economic Modeling Specialists International and Career Builder revealed that many employers were replaced with automation. But 68% of the surveyed companies mentioned that the adoption of automation resulted in new positions. Another 35% said that automation created more jobs prior to its adoption. As a result, if one hand of technology shows the fear of taking away jobs, the other hand provides some assurance of providing new jobs.
EMPLOYMENT IN ENGINEERING FIELD
The growth of technology is expected to increase the jobs in the field of engineering and architecture. New employment opportunities for approximately 67,200 new jobs in the U.S. alone is expected in the following fields,
- Architectural Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Biomedical Engineering
- Petroleum Engineering
The growth of Computer Aided Designing (CAD) has also become a demanded skill in the architectural and engineering industry. Additionally, the trends in CAD predict that its demand will keep growing the upcoming years. The main reason behind this demand is the shift of companies from traditional design to CAD.