Schlagwort-Archive: Work

When the old is gone and the new emerges

The old has always been the continuation of something familiar with comprehensible technical innovations. The aforementioned cab driver switched from the horse to the engine. The journalist no longer researches his information on the spot, but on the Internet and takes over to personally typeset, correct and publish his articles. Warehouse clerks exchange the pumper for a computer that controls the stock movements and shifts the packages driverless to the desired stations. The physical activities are eliminated and replaced by “willing” machines. In this environment, new tasks arise in the monitoring, control and maintenance of the assets – and of course in their development. In these times, new skills are needed.

Perspectives are missing. One of the few, who ponders concretely, is Thomas Frey, who has compiled the requisite know-how and many new professions of the future (see here). This time we’ll look at some of the future talents.

  • Bendscouting
    In the past scouts were used to spy out a path in front of them so that dangerous passages could be avoided on a large scale. To achieve this, traces had to be correctly interpreted, dangerous spots evaluated and the new routes safeguarded. In principle, tomorrow’s Bendscouts have similar skills. The difference results from their more vucane work space, i.e. more Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous. The required farsightedness results from the intuitive processing of the flood of data that cannot be left in the foreseeable future to any computer.
  • Bridging
    In many cases it will not be possible to bypass the danger spot. For this reason, to this day, armies have pioneers, who build bridges in the threatening places that take the troops safely from one side to the other. In the future, the ability to enable the transition at any point will become crucial, as more and more mental bridges have to be built that reliably bring those involved from the old into the new. Since every situation is different, the experience of proficient Bridgers, who can recognize and master even the most subtle peculiarities, is indispensable.
  • Lastmiling
    The global networking creates with RFID chips the Internet of Things. Networked computers move things virtually automatically around the world. The chip can be received anywhere and enables, with very little manual interference by people, automatic booking of cargo space as well as timely tracking of where the goods are at any given time. The same applies to data itself that is searching its way through the World Wide Web. The problems arise in the last mile – from the last node, whether it is a distribution warehouse or a junction box. The many Lastmilers are already available as parcel distributors and bicycle messengers. For the way from the hub to the actual addressee, it requires the hard to program intelligence of the Lastmiler.
  • Dismantling
    New things are being created ever faster. The introduction of business ideas, IT systems or industrial facilities increases the performance of companies incessantly. Over time, however, the old systems get in the way. Dismantling will be difficult as long as they continue to fulfil their purpose – albeit not quite as effectively as the new ones. In this environment, the complementary talent of an inventor is needed. Dismantlers will be responsible for removing and dismantling old systems out of running operations without collateral damage for the ongoing business. This surgical skill is so filigree that no computer can take over this task in the foreseeable future.
  • Bequeathing
    Even if a plant is dismantled, an approach is replaced or a business becomes history, it does not mean that the gained experiences are also obsolete. Many of these insights can continue to have an effect sustainably. After all, these are long-term routines that have been improved over time. Reuse is usually hindered by profane reasons – the protagonists are no longer there or no sufficient documentation exists. Ensuring the sustainable availability of experience is the task of the Bequeathers. The challenge is to muck out the insignificant, to select the most interesting and to prepare the most valuable building blocks. The necessary intuition to recognize the relevant aspects will be a problem for computers for a long time.

Bottom line: The continuous digitization takes over simple routine work. The machines execute unattractive tasks and solve them even more reliably than workers. This will trigger that the fields of activity shift again. It is not possible to automate the skills of bendscouting, bridging, lastmiling, dismantling and bequeathing as long as the comprehension, intuition, creativity and other typically human characteristics cannot be transferred into appropriate algorithms. Artificial intelligence may be a step in the right direction, but the modest hopes of the eighties of the last millennium have not yet been fulfilled after almost forty years – even, if we are impressed by robots that do the amazing things – but not more. The old is gone and the new is emerging. What will happen? As the French say – He, who lives, will see.

When the old is gone and the new is not yet available

After IT has been promising for years to change the world of work, it seems to be really taking off – networks cover almost every location, software is running barrier-free on various types of devices and huge amounts of data can be processed. The final attack on jobs with affinity to IT is taking place under the flag of digitization. Who actually gets hit slowly becomes clear. The probability is high that ALL “simple” activities are now actively moved into computers. Affected are

  • Workers, who perform recurring fabrication and transport work,
  • Service providers, who take over simple tasks from customers,
  • Examiners, who only determine and key in a status,
  • Retailers, offering goods that are cheaper on the Internet and are even delivered to one’s home,
  • Clerks, who sift through, categorize and store documents,
  • Employees, transferring data to a computer,
  • Sellers, who advise customers in mega-stores,
  • and much more.

We are no longer standing in line to stamp our working hours.

Business models, processes and activities are digitized. During the transition it becomes unpleasant for many, as old doors are closing and the new doors have not yet opened. We must adapt our abilities and our thinking to the new conditions. In 2013, the OECD has described three essential skills of adults in working age for processing information.

  • Literacy
    Since Gutenberg enabled for many the access to printed matters, reading has become a fundamental skill. The aim is to understand, evaluate and use all kinds of text. This means the decoding of written words and sentences, their clarification and the interpretation of complex texts – but not their generation. Reading literacy is a basic pre-requisite in business and private contexts.
  • Numeracy
    The occurrence of numbers in the form of notches can be traced back over 30,000 years. The first interpretable signs in Mesopotamia, 6,000 years ago, were agricultural lists and tables. Mathematics has evolved over thousands of years. Already the ancient Greeks hoped to derive the explanations of the world from conclusive algorithms. Today, mathematical skills are indispensable when solving problems. It takes a natural handling of numbers and their mathematical connections as well as the talent to use, interpret and communicate the results. Computational skills are mandatory in business and private environments.
  • Problem solving in technology-rich environments (Digital Literacy)
    In the eighties of the last century, home computers started an unforeseeable development. As late as 1981, Bill Gates thought that a computer would never need more than 640 KB (0.64 MB) of main memory. Today Windows10 needs eight GB (8000 MB) or even 16 GB to be on the safe side. More than half of the world’s population, who also have access to electricity, have a computer. 2.8 billion are using social media and 1.6 billion are shopping online. This requires the ability to operate the corresponding hardware and software as well as the basic functions. This begins with the dial-in to the network, continues with the operation of the user interface and the processing of the information found, to the execution of practical tasks – both business and private. Typical applications are online banking, e-business, social networking, e-government, online training, online travel bookings or Car2Go bookings.

The present handiwork and the current jobs, especially simple tasks, will be taken over by robots and automated systems. This means that the new “thinking” skills become important – reading and digital skills, numeracy skills, academic and technical expertise, problem-solving skills, critical thinking and creativity, cooperation and communication skills as well as coordination and leadership skills. But: the lack of craftsmen will greatly valorize these vital craft professions in the foreseeable future – possibly even make them more profitable than the new skills.

Bottom line: Without being able to read, calculate or operate the computer, today’s decisive channels and activities remain barred to you. No television program that does not refer to the expanded offers on the Internet. More and more transactions with the government have to be processed online. Only a few bank counters that are staffed and cost nothing. It is not surprising that many traditional professions and jobs are disappearing in this context. The future digital society and its new employment opportunities can only be guessed. When the old is gone and the new is not yet available, every man/woman for itself. In this situation it is important to actualize its reading skills, numeracy and digital literacy, since whatever comes up is based on it. Maybe we can have in the near future a look at those emerging new jobs.

P.S.: Nonetheless, the more manually gifted should not be tempted to strive for the unloved STEM professions (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), because most crafts will still be needed in the future. No one lives in a virtual castle or shower with a shower app or update his stuck window.