Okay, so the future is pretty scary when it comes to jobs. People today switch jobs more frequently than ever before, and the rapid advance of technology will continue to take more and more careers away from human beings in the coming decades.
But the more we know, the less scared we need to be, right? LinkedIn’s Carolyn Fairchild analyzed a recent study published by the McKinsey Global Institute and summarized their predictions. Below are the jobs they believe will be most desirable employers in 2030.
1. Teachers
By 2030, between 400 and 800 million jobs will be replaced by automated systems. These machines will mostly be focused on jobs that involve handling numbers and large quantities of data, but economists predict that they won’t be ready for jobs that require the higher-level thinking and social skills that humans have.
As a result, “doing jobs that require human interaction [e.g., teachers] will become more in-demand while… work that requires processing data [e.g., accountants] will fall by the wayside.”
2. Managers
In the next 15 years, there will be a drop in overall demand for ‘hard skills’ — specialized abilities like creating spreadsheets, collecting data, and submitting applications — because again, automation will do much of it for us.
Instead, employers will have much more interest in workers who have ‘soft skills’ — the ‘high-level logical reasoning and emotional skills’ that today are not required by the vast majority of careers. Employers will increasingly look for these soft skills when hiring managers, and amidst the rapidly changing job landscape, some of the most secure long-term careers will go to individuals who not only have an advanced degree but also demonstrate the ability to lead a team successfully.
3. Caregivers for the Elderly
Here come the baby boomers! The generation born from the late 1940s to the early 1960s is about to age into senior citizenship, and by 2030, the world’s 65+ population will increase by over 300 million, which means many more people will require the support of healthcare workers.
This is good news for people who don’t want to seek an advanced degree, as the explosion of the elderly population will also create at least 350,000 new jobs for paid care providers in the United States alone.
4. IT Consultants
The robots are coming to take our jobs, yes, but they will also need human beings to keep them up and running. That’s where IT technicians come in. Economists expect that companies will spend 50% more on tech solutions in the next 15 years, which should create between 20 to 50 million new jobs for consultants — employed both in-house and on a freelance basis.
5. Workers in Renewable Energy
The shift to clean energy sources will take decades, but global investment in renewable energy is expanding rapidly, and economists predict that roughly 20 million new jobs will be created by 2035. Among other careers, skilled workers are needed for manufacturing, installing, and maintaining a variety of renewable electricity generators, such as wind farms and solar power plants.
So there you have it. The job landscape in 2030 will be a competitive, tech-centric, constantly changing environment, and it will force many workers to change their occupations mid-career. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to enjoy a successful and stable career path; as long as you stay in the loop and keep building your CV, you should be prepared for what lies ahead.
