How automation changes the labor market: 10 job trends of the future

Data security

We see on our side which jobs are offered worldwide and which skills are required. These data speak a clear language: the professional images of the future either complement the work of machines or are highly dependent on human qualities that can not be reproduced by a computer.

Numerous data glitches at Company have made headlines in the past and show how skillful hackers have become in stealing data. However, these glitches also boosted the demand for two highly qualified IT jobs: IT security experts and cyber forensics experts to find out what went wrong.

In recent years, the number of job advertisements for positions in IT security has not only increased significantly in Germany. It is evident worldwide that awareness of this topic is growing. One reason for this is likely to be scandals at large companies like Facebook, but also reports of data leaks at local companies.

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Virtual reality and IoT developers

The job of software developer is changing just as dynamically as the technology itself. While web developers were in demand recently, companies are currently looking for mobile developers. However, the trend topic of the hour is the “Internet of Things” (IoT). This catchphrase refers to the networking of everyday objects via the network; from the car to the fridge. The term “Industry 4.0” is often used in Germany.

The number of vacancies for IoT developers in Germany has increased rapidly in recent years. This shows the huge importance that Germany attaches to the development of networked technologies. In the UK, another area is growing just as dynamically. Jobs related to virtual reality have experienced a real boom in the past few years (+350 percent). For comparison: In Germany, tenders for virtual reality experts “only” increased by 53 percent. Since the market for virtual reality is currently developing extremely rapidly, we expect Germany to catch up here.

Data Science

Demand for candidates with data science skills will grow as much as the big data capacity of enterprises. Anyone who combines technical and scientific expertise with the ability to find the important information and stories in a flood of information is in demand.

No wonder that the corresponding job offers are growing exponentially: Data scientist offers in Germany have increased by 310 percent in recent years. The market developed almost identically in Great Britain and Ireland. This is a sign that the challenges and opportunities of big data and data analysis have been recognized across borders.

Health service

In addition to professions related to digitization, job profiles also have good future prospects associated with demographic change in Europe. In a few years, 25 percent of Europeans will be 65 or older - compared to 18 percent today. The result: professions in healthcare such as nurses or physiotherapists have a solid future ahead of them. These jobs require a high degree of empathy, ingenuity and physical skills and are therefore not at risk of being automated.

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In fact, according to a recent Oxford study entitled “The future of employment,” the likelihood that computers could replace healthcare workers within the next is less than 1 percent. Nevertheless: The Indeed data show a significant increasing shortage of skilled workers in the German healthcare system. Especially for medical assistance centers and nursing jobs, the gap between the continuing demand for personnel and applicant interest continues to widen.

(Digital) Marketing and Design

Algorithms can do much good, but not everything. Creativity is not (yet) one of their strengths. Creative professions work with complex interactions of ideas, words and images in equally complex cultural and social contexts. For a computer this is extremely difficult to reproduce. The rise of the algorithms will therefore exceed marketing, advertising and design. Digital marketing has experienced impressive growth, which is expected to continue.

There is a lot of potential, especially in markets where digital marketing has not yet blossomed. This is also shown by developments in Germany, where job offers for digital marketing experts have skyrocketed by 259 percent in the past two years. Marketing is also becoming increasingly important for companies. A Duke University study predicted a significant increase in marketing spending - an indication of job stability in this area.

Logistics

We are still not living in a world in which drones deliver packages to the doorstep. However, she is no longer far away. Efficiency, comfort and customer wishes are driving the development of the logistics industry.

However, this does not mean that the logistics sector is ripe for full automation - human workers will continue to work in oversight and administration in the now extremely complex global supply and supply chain processes. However, traditional job profiles in logistics will undergo a change.

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Human Resources

HR professionals and professionals are increasingly becoming a key competitive advantage for companies in times of global competition for the best talent. A data-driven HR strategy is already deciding on the company's success. Their importance will increase.

With the scarcely manageable amount of information available to employers and jobseekers, the application process will change dramatically. Candidate selection and recruiting will be even more data driven in the future. Tools, such as those that make an automatic pre-selection of applicants, will spread further. Whoever wants to make a career in HR in the coming years must therefore combine social competence and emotional intelligence on the one hand with expertise in software and analytics on the other.

“Gig worker”

The future of work is not just about data and analysis. The job market is becoming increasingly fragmented. Candidates no longer apply for a full job, but also individual “gigs”. For example, Uber: The company enables self-employed drivers to work completely flexibly in terms of time, with little more than a smartphone and a car. This model was quickly adopted by other service industries.

Job seekers are adopting the model - worldwide interest in jobs in the gig economy has increased. As soon as other industries take up this platform model and regulation has taken place, more and more employees will also take part. The fragmentation makes forecasting the future difficult - self-driving cars could soon be the means of transportation of choice.

teacher

Education remains important. Again, we continue to see strong demand - particularly in developing countries and emerging markets. In the meantime, trends such as onlineCourses have opened up new possibilities as instructors in a country can now offer classes for students all over the world.

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Harvard Business School, for example, is already using “virtual classroom” software to open its business courses to a worldwide audience. Mass migration to western industrialized nations will also have a major impact on education. Educators with linguistic and intercultural skills will be very popular in the future. In Germany, job offers for language teachers and translators have increased exponentially.

cooks

However, some things never change. And that's good. People will always have to eat, but have less and less time to cook. Chefs combine creative intelligence and complex manual skills in a way that is very difficult to automate. In fact, according to the Oxford study already mentioned, the probability that this profession will be automated is only 10 percent. In the UK and Ireland, the number of vacancies for cooks and kitchen helpers rose by over 100 percent. An interesting contrast to Germany, where there was hardly any change in the same period.

Two explanatory possibilities are offered here. Economic cycles have traditionally had a strong impact on gastronomy. When income increases and unemployment decreases, restaurants and elsewhere are benefiting. In Germany, both factors were less variable during the analysis period than in the UK and Ireland. In contrast, Eurostat shows a possible cultural difference in household spending statistics: the British spend almost twice as much on restaurant visits. This shows: Even in a global labor market, there are regional facets that determine whether a profession is more or less in demand.