The Changing Nature of the Future Workforce
According to Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, about 47 million jobs are being displaced by technology that includes robots, drones, and artificial intelligence (AI). In a recent Harvard Business Review article, it was noted that “robotization, digitization, digital self-services, distributed digital advice and sales, and robo-advisors could result in a 60-70% reduction in the workforce of service providers, from financial services to telecom.”[1] Further, Oxford researchers say that 45 percent of America’s occupations will be automated within the next 20 years.[2]
Evidence of this transformation surfaced in July 2016 when McDonalds opened a fully automated restaurant in Phoenix, Arizona—a glimpse of the future for fast food and other industries. And, AI is very real, just ask “Siri” on your iPhone.
While many traditional jobs are being displaced by technology, new jobs are being filled by millennials. They grew up with and are conversant in leading edge technology. There are five distinct generations[3] in today’s job market each with their own world view, aptitude, experience and expectation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 82 million millennials in the work force, the next larger group are Baby Boomers. In 2011 there were more people 55 and older active in the workforce than any time in the past 30 years.
Jeff Weiner notes there are about 50,000 new millennials joining the workforce every day and many from the ranks of the under-employed are resurfacing as the economy begins to expand. He observes that traditional education is not keeping pace with the constant churn in the market-place. This is why LinkedIn has developed on-demand learning. With 300 million subscribers around the world operating in 24 languages, LinkedIn has become a global career management platform and along with Microsoft, they are positioned to expand their services.
So what does this mean for the mid-career military professional job seeker?
I offer three recommendations: First, start early enough to investigate thoroughly the current job market. Do your homework, know the trends, challenges and opportunities. Second, prepare by reinventing/reeducating yourself by using the online courses available through LinkedIn and other on-demand platforms. Most of the job seekers I advise want to be leaders, team-builders, and operations managers, but most are ill-equipped to enter a job market they are completely unfamiliar with. Finally, surround yourself with accomplished private sector leaders so you can learn about what it takes to be successful in today’s business world. Approach your transition as if you are preparing for battle. Surround yourself with smart people, develop courses of action and weigh their advantages and disadvantages, be flexible, and willing to seize targets of opportunity. Remember, perfect is the enemy of good. Besides, there are no perfect jobs.
[1] Prepare Your Workforce for the Automation Age, Christopher Knoess, Ron Harbour, and Steeve Scemama, Harvard Business Review, November 23, 2016
[2] https://www.technologyreview.com/s/519241/report-suggests-nearly-half-of-us-jobs-are-vulnerable-to-computerization/
[3] Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z.