We’re on the cusp of a new technological revolution. Forty percent of jobs are on the way out, thanks to “advancements” in technology (Australian CEDA report, June 2015). I’ve seen lots of reports recently about the future, with predictions that work will increasingly be part time, contract and home based; and that the old idea of a 9 to 5 job working for someone else is on the way out.
For many people this is unsettling. What if you don’t want to work for yourself, and what if you don’t want to work from home? Perhaps social welfare benefits will become unsustainable; and we will end up with high levels of poverty.
Truth is, all that is happening is the world is able to do more and more with less manpower. The way we respond to this fundamental change is up to us. Sure, many will be apprehensive and try to hold onto current ways of living; but if you embrace inevitable change, it can also bring opportunity.
Working from home can mean less time wasted travelling to and from work, less pollution during peak hour traffic, and more flexibility to work the hours that suit you. If you are home more, you can get outside and spend half an hour tending to a vegetable garden in the middle of the day, most days; and you may see more of your family. If more services are being provided by technology (eg. Computers and robots); perhaps we won’t need to wait as long for services as we do today.
Having the right “mindset” is going to be a big part of living a “sustainable” life in the future. To survive and thrive; you, will need to be “aware” and “adaptable”. We need to be educating our children to be “aware” of everything in the world around them (environmental, social, economic, political); and to have the mindset and capability to adapt. Don’t expect your kids to necessarily learn this at school. Our mainstream education system has rumblings of change; but still has a long way to go.
Teach your kids to be aware; get them involved in things like growing vegies; appreciating their environment and understanding current affairs. Foster a mindset that will work for them in an uncertain and rapidly changing future world.
Work on your own mindset too if you plan to be working and thriving in your career in ten years time. If you study; study with a school, college or university that has a realistic view of the future, ands isn't just repeating tired, old "mainstream" ideas about education. Education today needs to not only give you a foundation in the discipline you study; but it needs to set you on a path to growing your knowledge and skills, and being able to adapt really well to change, rapidly, as it comes along. Learning to do a job may have been OK in the past; but what is the point learning to do a job that might be partly or fully taken over by a computer or robot. A better idea is to learn to understand the discipline and learn to find and implement ways of using the computers and robots. Be the one who profits from change, rather than the one who is put out of work!
