I, Human
Automation is one of the most impactful transformative agents in our society. You can find many sources online to quench your thirst for more knowledge on the topic, but self-driving cars might be one of the most interesting ones at the moment [1]. What a lot of articles do not mention, is how it will destroy old jobs as it creates new positions never heard of before.
Trucker jobs might cease to exist altogether, driving instructors have to use transient skills for a new job and taxi drivers might turn into nostalgic rarities, not unlike a horse and carriage nowadays.
These rarities are the result of a societal shift of needs for new types of jobs, potentially displacing millions. At least your children can be vehicle-A.I. software engineers, car-road-interface scientist or road identification marker project managers. Ah, the sedentary life!
Some of the biggest changes between 1910 and 2000 in Minnesota, US, are the ratios between the types of jobs. (image: ref. [2])
The land before (millennial) time
In 19th century US and UK, like many other countries back then, jobs revolved around manual labour [3]. People were farmers, miners, fishers, ironworks employees or slaves. Work was physically exhausting and exposure to the elements was unavoidable at times. Long distance messaging delivered via telegraphs in the early 1800s was limited to simple data like morse code, which was perhaps one of the most technologically challenging jobs back then.
The 20th century introduced new jobs like astronauts, nanotechnology scientists and quantum physicists, while pinsetters disappeared from bowling alleys. People needed to be educated to fit to these new jobs, it would fit with increasing amount of years people spend in education since the 1970s [5].
“A smartphone would make spreading hope much easier in this post-apocalyptic scenario I got myself into.” (image: The Postman.)
The pervasive use of electricity and robotic manpower relieved our bodies from labour, and started demanding more of our minds. It reduced the need for lamplighters for example. Only later that century streetlights would be automatically lit over the entire country at the same time, making lamplighters something for a renaissance fair.
Going into the 21st century we see absolute number of people in the working force growing as the population grows, while the relative number of employed people seems to decrease slowly over the years in some place [4]. Some specific jobs survived this evolution of society and technology though, but which ones do and what new jobs can we expect to see in the next 8 decades of this century?
Evergreen jobs
Not just the world's oldest profession has survived, but everything related to the daily struggles of humans:
1. Need to consume nutrients – preferably tasty ones!
2. Being bored.
3. Finding a place for the waste we produce - biological or otherwise.
In other words: Maintaining the status quo. Part of maintenance is of course healthcare, which will always be a hot topic until we become immune to diseases or death. Pressured by and compensating for a capitalistic consumer goods landscape, which generates diseases of wealth as collateral.
Other modern day examples include global cleaners in the form of NGOs like the plastic soup foundation. It's main purpose: Cleaning the mess we made, unknowingly, since the invention of industrial plastic back in 1856 for the purpose of making the acquiring of consumer goods easier. Of course, there are other theories.
“What's this? A DVD on self-empowerment for women? How thoughtful!” (image: Pretty Woman)
Future jobs for everyone!
In a world where everything is provided and everyone has their basic needs met, there are still some positions that can be created. Advancement which always, will be fueled by a never ending need for energy, will create jobs for sustainable energy engineers. Aesthetics will be taken to a new level giving room to custom tissue, genetic and organ designers.
Maybe civil engineering will demand more integration with nature by having biocompatible houses, roads and bridges. IKEA might offer seeds that grow into a tree-house over the course of a year. You could teach parenting on a freelance basis to people who have no time to do so because they leave school at 35.
Alternatively, you could make shows which revitalize old products like that perfect McDonald's' Szechuan sauce people would pay 17.500 euro for. You could sell virtual goodies to people with too much money, clean a hotel room or become an online celebrity eating food. Or maybe you really want to drive a car at a 2035 millennial fair, performing a piece called 'the traffic jam'. It's really up to your imagination. Think about it.
Big automatic hug, Marc
Sources:
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/self-driving-cars
[2] https://www.bls.gov/mlr/2006/03/art3full.pdf
[3] http://www.nber.org/chapters/c1567.pdf
[4] http://humanscience.wikia.com/wiki/Job_creation_during_the_20th_century
[5] Gapminder
