My Thoughts on the Future of Jobs and Automation

Last week CES2018 hit Las Vegas like a sandstorm and left everyone in awe of the future of technology.  

I was impressed with how much technology has advanced over the past year and how it will impact the future of consumers.  Some products that really caught my attention were the self-driving cars, human-like robots, L'Oreal UV Sense which is a small sensor that you wear on your nail that lets you know when you are being exposed too long to UV rays,  google assistant products, and the concept of smart cities.

All of these are being designed to help make our, and the future generation's lives easier.  But, what will that mean for the future of employment?  Will all of these robots and the fast-paced technology they possess replace the jobs that many of us have today?

I recently read a very interesting article by Andrew Charlton and his thoughts about this topic and I must say, I agree with a lot of what he says.  There have been many new jobs being created because of all of the new technology. But, as the old jobs are phased out, new jobs are taking their place.  This has resulted in less than 0.5% job loss.

Andrew points out that humans are needed to keep up with this new technology as tools to think creatively for them.  There are also more human interaction jobs being created to respond to the emotions of people.

Another area that will help improve and create jobs is analysis, says Andrew Charlton.  Google recently did an analysis on technology and how it is affecting time spent on more than 2000 work tasks that are done within jobs.  The results were astounding. They showed how technology has impacted the way we work and how employees are spending more time assisting others because of the time saved in the tasks they once did.   

Automation needs to be embraced in the workplace.  Here in the US, more than 20% of businesses have invested in automation, compared to 14% globally.  This has resulted in gains in our economy.

By continuing to increase those numbers, and implementing more risk management into our thought process, when it comes to jobs, those numbers can grow.  

We need to create more jobs in the workplace to help workers transition from phased out jobs to new careers.  I personally have been in job positions throughout my life time that have slowly been phased out.  Look at the printing industry and how it has been impacted.  This was once a thriving career and now has been slowly phasing out by computers.  We need to find jobs for people in these types of careers that they can easily transition into.  There are resources out there, they just have to be utilized creatively. 

The reemployment priority list, or RPL, is used to give reemployment consideration to employees who were once in a competitive service job.  These employees were separated from their jobs due to reductions in their workforce.  It is designed to fill vacancies with priority to registrants over outside applicants.

Currently, there are two types of resources that are available for persons who are transitioning in their careers.  One of the resources (CTAP) Career Transition Assistance Plan, helps employees before being separated from their career.  (ICTAP) Interagency Career Assistance Plan helps before and after career separation.

Once we learn to realize how technology is more of an asset, we can continue to grow.

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post.