So what do you want to do when you grow up? A post about the changing world of work

So tell me, what do you want to do when you grow up?

Oh wait, you're already grown up... so here's the news: the world of work has become such that there is no longer one long-term answer to this question. There is great news here for those who like diversity and change, bad news for those who hoped to retire on the waves of undergraduate studies...

Education, roles, profession, the life span of all these is shortened. How much does it shorten? Oh, glad you asked 😊

The World Economic Forum publishes a report every two years dealing with the world of work, since 2016.

The report focuses on analyzing the current situation, and tries to predict two to five years ahead. We read the 296 pages of the report and are here with the TL;DR for you :)

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Before the content, a sentence about the report - the forum's biennial report is not just another report. It is perhaps the most comprehensive and thorough report that looks at the world of work in depth and breadth, tries to weigh trends, and also give predictions - spoiler, usually their predictions are very accurate

The report includes reference to:

The starting point - what drives the storm?

The report of the World Economic Forum refers to 3 forces that are currently affecting organizations, and therefore the world of work:

1. Climate concern, transition to green technologies and compliance with the ESG standard (Environmental, social and governance standards) - this can be a value agenda, or a need to adapt to new regulations in the field, it can be from considerations of efficiency (for example, diversifying energy sources to cheaper sources), or value requirements of customers (for customers it is becoming significant to understand how and where did they create what they consume)

2. Macroeconomic events - an increase in the cost of living and a slowdown in growth.

3. Technology - over 85% of organizations are increasing the rate of technology and digital adoption, dealing with big data, moving to the cloud and starting to implement AI applications. Is it true when flying or traveling by train, we don't understand the speed until we lift our heads and look out the window? So AI

How much do these trends affect organizations? All the organizations that participated in the report answered that they are affected by everything, at least at the level of 34% of their business.

In the report itself, you will find on page 75 this illustration expanded, with a breakdown of the industries and branches.

So, let's get to the point – we've understood the revolution and its impact on organizations, but how exactly will this affect roles and jobs in practice?

Just like every revolution in human history, technology eliminates jobs on one hand and creates new ones on the other.

The Industrial Revolution created more and more "quality" jobs like engineers and managers while eliminating positions in agriculture and textiles. The Internet Revolution generated many professions and jobs, such as developers, and wiped out numerous clerical roles (like those involving photocopying papers, filing them, or mailing letters...).

Let’s look at this in numbers:

The World Economic Forum predicts that in the next four years, by 2027, 23% of jobs worldwide will change – about half will be "lost jobs" or disappear, and the other half will be new jobs that are "created."

Alongside this, there will be a net shrinkage of 14 million jobs, approximately 2% of the current workforce. These are generally bad news, especially as the world’s population continues to grow – but that's a topic for another discussion.

To better understand which jobs will disappear and which will emerge, let’s take a closer look at the boundary between humans and machines as outlined in the report:

A bit frightening, isn’t it? In just four years, nearly 10% of what humans currently do will be handed over to machines. And this is based on a forecast that assumes a slower pace compared to the past, considering the global economic slowdown (organizations are more focused on survival, with less "free" money to invest in adopting new technologies).

By 2027, 35% of tasks involving explanation, logical processes, and decision-making will be performed by machines, and up to 65% of all data processing activities will be machine-driven.

And which professions will be affected?

In general, it's clear that tech-related professions, especially those connected to AI and data, are experiencing tremendous growth. Alongside them, surprisingly, there’s consistent and high demand for roles like agricultural equipment operators, drivers, and educators. Meanwhile, clerical jobs, coordinators, and manual labor roles are disappearing.

Important! The distinction between jobs and people:

When we talk about disappearing and emerging professions, it doesn’t mean that people in certain professions today will become irrelevant. It simply means they may need to transform, "shed their professional skin," and renew themselves in a different field.

For example, a cybersecurity analyst tomorrow might be someone who is already an analyst today and learns to "sharpen" their skills to adapt to the new reality. The key is to make this transition quickly!

A case study illustrating this principle and its pace:

Twenty years ago, in the early 2000s, the profession of digital marketing didn’t exist. Seven months ago, it began its decline when ChatGPT started generating digital content, and its "cousin" DALL-E began designing logos. In just two decades, a profession was born, thrived, and began to fade.

However, the field itself still exists! Those professionals who will survive and even thrive are the ones who know how to transition into roles like AI operators, adapt business models, and embrace new tools instead of fearing them. Adopting innovation and flexibility is the way forward.

Skills – or what is our "snake's shed skin"?

If you’ve looked at the charts and breathed a sigh of relief because you’re not a postal clerk or a bank teller, hold on before you relax.

The World Economic Forum report claims that 44% of the core skills for all of us (!) will change.

Skills are essentially the building blocks of professions. One of the major shifts we’ve been witnessing in recent years, in my opinion, is the move away from focusing on professions and job titles toward a focus on skills.

Do you have analytical skills? Today, you might be in business development; tomorrow, you could be working in data science. Do you have leadership and influence skills, the ability to connect with others and negotiate? Today, you might be in a social non-profit organization; tomorrow, you could be managing a product.

This shift emphasizes the importance of cultivating and developing versatile skills that can adapt across different fields and roles, allowing individuals to remain relevant and thrive in an ever-changing job market.

The report includes a taxonomy (hierarchy) of skills, outlining what we as employees should focus on mastering to remain relevant and in demand.

The ranking is based on a survey of 803 organizations, all answering the question: "What are the most important skills you want your employees to have?"

The chart is led by analytical thinking and creative thinking.

Positions 3 to 9 emphasize self-management skills (unsurprising in an increasingly fast-paced and flexible world), technological proficiency (commonly referred to as technological literacy), and interpersonal skills (such as empathy, active listening, management, and leadership).

An interesting observation: reading and writing have declined to 16th place.

While this may not come as a surprise—given that technology has shifted communication towards spoken, recorded, and video-based content—it does raise important questions. Does this signify a future devoid of literacy? Certainly not. However, it does highlight a transformation in the role of these skills. Reading and writing are no longer considered the foundational pillars of education. Society will need to reevaluate and redefine their purpose in the modern era.

So, what should we do?

Obviously – stay in constant learning mode!

We all need to focus on three main areas:

1. Acquiring entirely new skills -

   Analytical and critical thinking: To understand and solve complex problems. Evaluating AI outputs: Developing the ability to assess the quality and significance of results produced by AI systems. Interpreting data and findings: Drawing meaningful conclusions from complex data.

   Solving new problems: Creatively tackling challenges that haven’t been encountered before.

2. Upgrading existing skills -

   Enhanced content creation: Incorporating AI to generate ideas and deepen creativity. Developing and analyzing ideas and findings: Using AI tools to improve quality and accuracy.

3. Identifying redundant skills or "Don’t be a junior!" -

   Data extraction, pattern recognition, simple content writing, and basic coding: These skills are already performed at a high level by AI. Learn them as a foundation, but aim to specialize in more advanced, non-trivial areas.

   
   

So where do we start?

Here are some resources and recommendations for learning and staying updated in the field of AI:

• Dror Globerman

  Follow him. He publishes an excellent newsletter with all the latest news in the field and hosts the podcast “While You Were Working” with Dani Feld. They’ll help you grasp rapid changes and stay informed.

  
  

• Kochavit Arnon

  Subscribe to her newsletter, “AI for Busy People.” She sends updates and practical tools that you can start using right away.

  
  

• The website "There's an AI for That"

  Visit https://theresanaiforthat.com/. This site consolidates AI tools by category. Choose a field that interests you and try an AI tool that can make your work easier.

  
  

• Free courses from Israel Digital

  • Conscious Leadership: Relevant to everyone, not just managers. Mastery of your mindset will set you apart from bots, at least for the foreseeable future.

  • Learning How to Learn: Staying relevant in a changing world requires constant learning, which itself is a skill worth mastering.

The World Economic Forum's Jobs Report primarily focuses on changes in professions and skills. However, that’s not the whole story. There are additional aspects of the evolving world of work that we are all already experiencing in our daily lives. Gartner highlighted these trends a year ago, and here are the key points, in my view:

Managers

Managers will need to focus much more on motivation and personalization. They can no longer limit themselves to measuring and evaluating performance alone.

AI Integration in Organizations

The integration of AI into organizations will also impact our work environment and how we operate. AI will no longer serve only as a resource. Instead:

We will interact in virtual communities.

Each of us will have an avatar that will interact with surrounding bots.

Everyone will have their own AI personal assistant.

Our entire work environment will be based on apps and cloud platforms.

Search for Meaning

Even today, we see many employees who are less and less willing to be just "cogs in the machine" and who want to understand the personal impact they create. We all seek to understand purpose, to connect with the greater meaning we bring to life. Organizations and managers will need to focus much more on fostering this sense of meaning in daily operations.

Deepening Work-Life Disconnection

We want to work remotely, but this creates distance, reduces engagement, and makes us feel less connected.

We seek flexibility to better balance work and life, but in practice, it all becomes one long, intense continuum, which also harms our well-being.

The solution is not yet clear, but one thing is certain: the world of work will not return to the 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM framework.

In conclusion, let me return to the train analogy—lift your head from the daily grind!

Be alert and open enough to notice that the world of work is changing. Don’t become exclusively immersed in something that might no longer be relevant tomorrow.

We all need to prepare for the future, as it’s approaching at an unprecedented speed.