It is a fact – with automation, repetitive jobs requiring lower level skills will be obsoleted. The question is – where these displaced job holders will find their next employment? The further question is – how do we train the next generation so that they are versatile and can be resilient to continuous changes to how they work and what they work on?
I have worked in over 4 different industries in the last 30 years. Many people ask me how I could adapt in these industries which are so different. I think the ability to traverse across industries mainly lies in having appropriate mindset & grit. I believe there are 3 key things we need in this mindset:
1) Being inquisitive – so that we are continuously learning and learning from every set-back we encounter.
2) Have a sense of business & economics – how & why money flows from our customers to fund the jobs that we work on and learning what we lack in doing the jobs that customers are willing to pay more for.
3) Be sociable – willing to constantly make new friends, take feedback from them, learn from them and in-turn, value-add to them.
This article discusses questions such as – if automation increases income inequality but not poverty, should economies do anything about it? Interesting read.