Raphael Thys
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Imagine that you have been transported back in time, 50 years into the past to the year 1970. People know you are from the future. You have been asked to be a speaker at a college or university 1970 graduation ceremony. The new grads want to know, what jobs will be popular in the future? What industries should they be going into?
In your speech to the graduates, you would definitely talk about the impact that computers and the information age will have on all industries. In 1970, while computers had already been in use for roughly 20 years and IBM was the top US company, very few of us were using computers in 1970. We were only at the start of the information age.
Fast forward 50 years and we are at the same place of a new age: the fourth industrial revolution. As in 1970, though some of the technology and innovations of this revolution have been around for 20 to 30 years, society as a whole is only just starting to use this technology in their day-to-day lives.
On May 20, 2020, Kiersz and Hoff wrote an online article for Business Insider magazine listing the “30 Best High Paying Jobs of the Future.” The list contains few surprises. We will need information security analysts and system software developers. We will also need nurses and medical/health services managers.
While these job predictions are logical, they do not capture the innovation, imagination or exciting future of careers that the fourth industrial revolution will bring to our workplace.
I’m inviting you to come on a journey with me, 10 to 20 years into the future where augmented and virtual reality will be ingrained into our lives as much as using a cell phone is today, where NASA’s Artemis Program on the Moon will be well underway, and where we can replace diseased organs by simply printing new ones.
Welcome to the future of work. Strap yourself in for a tour with companies from around the world while we explore the fourth industrial revolution. We’ll make stops along the way in the digital, physical and biological worlds. We will check out the aerospace, agricultural and health care industries, as well as the world of energy and the environment. Lastly, we will examine careers for those who don’t fit the techie world and are concerned that there will not be a place for them in the new world of work.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Why It’s Important
Why should we care about the fourth industrial revolution?
Because just as computers changed our workplace, the technologies and innovations of the fourth industrial revolution will impact our workplace for the next 50 years and beyond. Knowing where we are headed will help all of us prepare for work in the future.
The fourth industrial revolution is the combination of the digital, physical and biological worlds.
Imagine if we were to take these three components and combine them all in a giant mixing bowl, we would be creating all the new technologies of the fourth industrial revolution. We could then look to any of these areas as new areas of study and work with applications in every industry. For example, 3D printing is mainly part of the physical world but made up of a combination of the physical and digital worlds while bioprinting is mainly part of the biological world and is a combination of all three worlds.
How will these new technologies shape our world of work, the way the computer and the information age shaped the last 50 years?
How will they impact each of our industries?
What skills will we need to learn to stay current?
Many of us are familiar with these technologies to varying degrees. While we tour through the fourth industrial revolution and what’s to come, I encourage you to think about the following questions:
· Is this a technology I already know about but maybe need to learn more about?
· As part of the global economy, am I aware of the work that other countries are doing in these fields?
· Am I familiar with the educational intuitions that are focused on research and study in these areas?
· Am I familiar with the companies working on these technologies?
· Most importantly, how much are my clients, my friends and my family aware of this information, and do I need to educate them about all the exciting opportunities that are coming in the future? Because while we may know a lot about the fourth industrial revolution, others may not.
Ready? Let’s begin the journey and explore the digital, physical and biological worlds of the fourth industrial revolution. Let’s look at each area and give an example of how this new technology impacts our current world of work. As we have a limited amount of time and a lot of ground to cover, we will explore some areas in greater depth but others just briefly.
Digital World
Digitally, we are creating the new fields of artificial intelligence, the internet of things, big data, blockchain, cloud computing, and virtual and augmented reality.
Artificial Intelligence
Are you ready to let artificial intelligence take the wheel?
Artificial intelligence is sometimes called machine intelligence. We are already familiar with many uses of artificial intelligence in our day-to-day lives, such as driverless cars, facial recognition, chat boxes and chess playing computers. Two of the top AI companies, Nuro and Aurora Innovation, are in the self-driving car space, as are Tesla and now Amazon with the purchase of Zoox. We will examine more about driverless cars when we look at autonomous vehicles.
The Internet of Things (IoT)
How much of technology is connected? “The Internet of Things is a system of interrelated computing devices with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Our smart-phones, smart homes and elder care alert systems are just a few examples of this technology.” Our home security systems talk to our phones and our iPhones communicate and transfer data to our iPads.
Next step: smart cities. Work is already starting on smart cities, and cities all over the world are adapting smart city technology. Barcelona is using it to manage city watering, Amsterdam uses it to control lighting, and London is using it for their transportation systems. The Songdo Business Industrial park in South Korea is a smart city built from scratch. It is an example of where smart cities are headed. While not as successful as hoped, Songdo was the first of its kind. While you may have never heard of Songdo, you may have already seen this city. It’s where the music video “Gangnam Style” was filmed.
Big Data
Think about how much data you used on your smart-phone 5 years ago and how much you use now. Imagine collecting data from all these devices and sources. What do we do with all of that information? Enter the world of big data.
“Big data is a field that finds ways to analyze, extract information from, or deal with data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data processing application software. For example, big data analytics has helped healthcare improve by providing personalized medicine and prescriptive analytics.”
“Big data is often used in conjunction with the Internet of Things and has applications in government, education, health care and healthcare insurance. Also, it is used extensively with media and marketing because by understanding more about your customers, you can develop your marketing pitches and your products to better suit your target audience.”
As companies and institutions try to cope with data overload, it only makes sense that there will be a need for data management people.
Blockchain
Have you ever sent a word document back and forth between parties and ended up with two versions of the same document?
If you have, then you can start to understand the importance of blockchain technology. “The first work on a cryptographically secured chain of blocks, or a growing chain of records, was described in 1991. Developers wanted to implement a system where document timestamps could not be tampered with.”
Wikipedia describes blockchain as “a digital ledger consisting of records called blocks that are used to record transactions across many computers so that any involved block cannot be altered retroactively, without the alteration of all subsequent blocks. This allows participants to verify and audit transactions independently and relatively inexpensively.”
In other words, it results in a consistent version of a document.
“Blockchain technology is currently being used in the following areas: cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, financial services, smart contracts, insurance, video games, and supply chain management systems.”
“A very interesting use of blockchain technology is demonstrated by a UK company called PRS for Music, which represents songwriters, composers and music publishers and their performance rights. The organization collects royalties on their behalf whenever their music is played or performed publicly, which is now easier to track electronically. This has resulted in their members seeing an increase of over 10% in royalty payments in 2017 alone.” This opens up the doors for artists in other countries to be protected while earning the monies they deserve for their artistic creations.
Cloud Computing
Most of us who own a cell phone or a computer have an idea of what cloud computing is. “Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage or cloud storage and computing power, without the direct active management by the user.”
Think about it as getting a storage locker for your computer information. Data centers are available for many users over the internet. For example, I store my extra pictures on my iPhone with Apple on the cloud and pay a minimal fee to do so.
While cloud computing is a technology most of us are familiar with, what we need to know is that companies are investing millions of dollars in cloud computing research and development. Also, there are still many issues surrounding privacy and security that need to be worked out in this area.
Augmented and Virtual Reality
Here is the place where the line between our world and the technological world starts to blur. Augmented reality is a combination of our real physical world and the digital or virtual worlds. Augmented reality alters one's perception of a real-world environment, whereas virtual reality completely replaces the user's real-world environment with a simulated one.
Let’s take a deeper look into this fascinating area of digital technology.
A company called VironIT has developed “Anatomy Next, a web-based augmented reality and virtual reality software for medical education and health care professionals. They have also developed an ECG simulator that helps to train and evaluate medical personnel performing ECG procedures.”
As well, VironIT worked with the Belarus Ministry of Emergency Situations to develop an inspection and firefighting project, training firefighters by placing them in virtual life-and-death situations. With augmented and virtual reality becoming more economically viable, we will see more projects like this one in other industries.
Have you ever had an IV or given a blood sample? AccuVein is a company that uses “augmented reality in a hand-held device to help health care workers find veins more easily. With this device, they can improve blood draws and IV insertion by 3.5 times, greatly reducing multiple tries and improving patient satisfaction.”
“Next Now is an award-winning digital marketing experience studio that employs brand architects, computer scientists, video game developers, 3D specialists, animators, designers and producers.” They helped Jeld-Wen develop a showroom for their new headquarters in North Carolina. When you enter the showroom, you are handed a tablet. As you choose your style for your design and colors of door and windows, the showroom wall changes, allowing you to see in advance what your window and door choices will look like.
What other industries are being impacted by augmented and virtual reality?
- Education: Virtual reality (VR) is already being implemented in schools and colleges. For example, there is a virtual reality application called Mission: ISS transporting students onto the International Space Station. Mobi Lab, an Estonian technology company, around since 2001, developed augmented reality (AR) for the Estonian Museum of Natural Science, allowing visitors a richer, more in-depth educational museum experience. Imagine meeting a “real” dinosaur at the museum.
- Retail: Next Now helped Chevron develop a bumper-to-bumper augmented reality app for a better under-the-hood experience. TopShop provides its buyers with a VR app letting you sit in the front row of a fashion show during London Fashion Week.
- Gaming industry: It’s probably the industry that we think of as the one most impacted by AR and VR. Two examples of AR/VR companies doing work in the gaming field are Survios and Resolution Games. There are already over 100 kinds of VR headsets available for consumers. While there is lots going on in the gaming industry, many AR and VR companies are actually focused on business applications.
- Professional training: VironIt’s firefighter project is one example. Virtual reality also teaches employees how to work safely during manufacturing processes or how to prevent oil spills or fires. There are virtual holograms that train management executive teams in best practices. Groove Jones developed Groovetech, a virtual reality business platform used for training and product demonstrations that mirrors real world situations.
· Medicine: AccuVein’s vein detector is one example. But the medical field is already benefitting from:
o Virtual reality diagnostics
o Anatomy models like Anatomy Next
o EyeSim, where students can train and learn about ocular anatomy
o Virtual and augmented reality games to increase brain fitness of patients
o Virtual reality surgery simulation that improves outcomes and saves lives
· Architecture: Construction companies can now construct a 3D building model and show it to the client in advance, so that changes can be made before costly construction.
· Tourism: One of my personal favorites! Check out Google Earth VR, Everest VR, and The Grand Canyon VR Experience to see how virtual reality can help you travel to places you only dreamed of going to. Imagine travelling the entire world without leaving home helping you choose your top travel destinations.
Physical World
In the physical world, of the fourth industrial revolution, we are creating advanced robotics, autonomous vehicles, and 3D printing.
Advanced Robotics
You are lying in bed. You smell the aroma of a freshly cooked omelette coming from your kitchen. But you are home alone. Welcome to the kitchen of the future. Robotics is a research area that combines computer science and engineering. “It involves designing, constructing, operating and using robots that can help humans in their day-to-day lives. The field of robotics uses elements of information, computer, mechanical and electronic engineering.”
Now back to our eggs. According to Science Daily, “the University of Cambridge engineering department and appliance company Becko, have created a robot that can cook an egg. Why eggs? Because they are considered by many to be one of the most difficult foods to cook properly. Other research groups have developed robots that can bake cookies, pizza and pancakes but cooking eggs is much harder. This robot from cracks the eggs, plates them and cooks the eggs to each person’s specifications.” How did the robot do? Great, according to taste testers.
Autonomous Vehicles
Most of us are aware that driverless cars are on their way although most of us do not own one. “Autonomous vehicles, also known as driverless cars, robo-cars or robot cars, are vehicles that can move around their environment with little or no human input.” There are six levels (0-5) levels of autonomous vehicles:
· Ones that simply issue warnings, lane drift, blind spots
· “Hands on,” such as setting cruise control
· “Hands off,” where the vehicle is in charge of braking, accelerating and steering
· “Eyes off,” where the vehicle can drive mostly by itself allowing the passenger to engage in other tasks
· “Mind off,” where the passenger can actually go to sleep while travelling in the vehicle
· “Steering wheel optional,” where the vehicle completely drives itself such as “a robotic taxi that drives anyone anywhere in all weather conditions”
In May 2018, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that they had built a car that could navigate unmapped roads, a significant feat in the world of autonomous vehicles.
Starsky Robotics was a technology company working on developing autonomous trucks that could drive together in “flocks,” allowing for greater fuel efficiency. This concept of multiple vehicles driving together in tandem is called platooning. The company failed to get further funding and folded in March 2020, a reminder that the fourth industrial revolution is still in its infancy; the research and development phase. Otto, another US company working on developing autonomous trucks, was acquired by Uber, and eventually the company withdrew from work on autonomous trucks and focused on self-driving cars. While much headway is being made in the area of autonomous vehicles and other technologies, there is still great risk involved for both the companies and investors.
Tesla, Google, Uber and now Amazon, are all in the autonomous vehicle business. Some have enjoyed various levels of success but have also reported vehicle accidents. Again, an issue with new technology.
Now imagine a future where the aging baby boomer population are able to maintain their independence because their vehicle continues to take them shopping and running errands at a time when they are no longer able to drive themselves.
While we may think that driverless cars are a long way off in the future, we only need to quickly tour the world to see how widely this technology is being adapted. Italy, France, Belgium and the UK are planning autonomous vehicle transportation systems. Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain have approved public testing in traffic. New Zealand is also planning on using automated vehicles for public transportation. China already has an automated minibus in use that can seat 14 people.
3D Printing
3D printing is revolutionizing what we can do in the physical world. Think about how much we use our photocopiers in the 2D paper world and then multiply that use by any number of materials to create endless new products across all industries. Imagine all the objects we could make.
3D Systems invented 3D printing back in 1989, so it is a technology that has actually been around for a while but is really starting to come into its own. 3D Systems has created 3D printers for metals, plastic, metal casing, dental work such as orthodontics, and jewelry. 3D systems offer high-end printing for metal implants used in orthopedic, spinal, craniomaxillofacial (simply think skull-jaw-face), dental and veterinary applications. They can also manufacture single-use disposable surgical instruments, reusable surgical instruments, and even metal, sterilizable medical devices. Need a new hip replacement, we’ll just print one. Need a new jaw bone, we’ll print one. Need a special surgical instrument for a complicated surgery, just print one.
Stratsys, another 3D company, works “on the manufacturing side of things with a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, automotive, healthcare, consumer products, rail, and education. They can manufacture tools, produce parts and create prototypes.” Need a tool that doesn’t exist, print one.
Now, imagine we are on the Moon or Mars and our rover breaks down. We can’t run out to the nearest store and buy replacement parts. But we can always print a new part with our 3D printer. That’s the premise of Made in Space, a company that focuses on the aerospace industry. Their goal is to specialize in replacement parts for the space industry. They would create tools that are too massive, too complex or too fragile to survive a rocket launch. They are already one step closer to actualizing this dream: their 3D printer is on the International Space Station, capturing a premiere spot in the space manufacturing industry.
Biological World
The biological world includes zoology and botany (plants and animals), but it also includes microbiology. When we combine the biological world with the digital and physical worlds, we create the fields of bioprinting, neurotechnology and synthetic biology, and expand on work in the field of genetics.
We’ll take a deeper look at bioprinting first, as we are already familiar with 3D printers from the physical world.
Bioprinting
Bioprinting is 3Dprinting for the medical world. Need a new heart, just print one using biological materials. Need a new skin graft, print one. Bioprinting allows us to produce living tissue, bone, blood vessels and whole organs that we can use in both medical procedures and training. Bioprinting is developing much slower than 3D printing because “the human body is very complex, and we are working with biomaterials which may contain living cells. Since every organ is made up of a distinct type of cell, we must first collect cells from the patient and cultivate them until there are enough to create a “bio-ink” that will be used in the printer.” Sometimes stem cells and organic glues are added to help the process.
Let’s take a tour of the world and find out what interesting research is happening in the world of bioprinting.
· Swansea University in Wales has developed a bioprinting process to create an artificial bone matrix which could be used in bone grafts.
· The University of Nottingham in England is working on similar technology that will allow them to do bone replacements, with the piece of bone actually being printed in the operating room while the surgeon is doing the surgery.
· The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina, a leader in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, has successfully developed a printer that can print skin cells directly onto a burn wound. They have also been successful in developing a process to create a bladder, one of the easier organs to replicate, and they have also been able to develop a urethra.
· Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is working on printing living blood vessels.
· ETH Zurich, a public research university in Zurich, is working on developing human cartilage. Smash your knee or your nose in a car accident, scientists can implant a new one in less than 20 minutes.
Neurotechnology
What do we know about the brain? “Neurotechnology is any technology that has a fundamental influence on how people understand the brain and various aspects of thought, and higher order thinking. It also includes technologies that are designed to improve and repair brain function. It allows researchers and clinicians to visualize the brain.”
Some of these technologies have been around for a long time, like MRIs, CT scans and PET Scans. Other examples are brain implants. These technologies can be helpful in working with people with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, or trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. Examples of companies working in this field are Flow Neuroscience which has developed a headset that provides relief to people suffering from depression, and G-Therapeutics in Switzerland which has developed a technology that helps people with spinal cord injuries gain mobility.
Synthetic Biology
Synthetic biology is an area of research that “works on creating new biological parts, devices, and systems, or works on re-designing systems that are already found in nature.”
Let’s explore one area of synthetic biology that most of us are already familiar with biotechnology. This field has applications in four major areas: health care, agriculture, non-food uses of crops such as biofuels, and the environment. Biotechnology is being used to recycle, treat waste and clean up sites contaminated by industrial activities. By using biofilm to treat wastewater, a Finnish company called Organica Water uses biofilm to treat wastewater, using biological materials to solve everyday problems.
Genetics
When we think of genetics, we probably think Anscestry.com and 23 and Me, where you can learn about your genetic heritage. “Genetics is the study of genes, examining gene variation and heredity in all organisms.” That means plants and animals, but also bacteria and viruses.
Research in the field of genetics touches on many areas of study. According to Sci News, genetic researchers have identified:
· Over 126,000 genetic variations in the human population
· Secrets of the dead sea scrolls
· 19 new genetic variants for problem drinking
· The sequence of a single cell algae genome
· Two distinct red pandas
· The sequence of two different types of basmati rice
· Three variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus
As we can see, the study of genetics can touch on history, religion, anthropology, archeology, zoology, botany, microbiology and health care, allowing those interested in this field of study to easily combine it with almost any other field of interest.
The field of genetics, while not new, is probably one of the areas we are examining today that comes with the most controversy. Genetically modified food. Designer babies. But that brings us to another area of study: ethics in the field of genetics. We will need people with strong critical thinking skills to help us determine how far we should be allowed to take this research.
Career Opportunities in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Now that we have taken a spin around the fourth industrial revolution, we have a better idea of the many technological jobs that will be needed now and in the near future. We can also see that job descriptions like those listed in Business Insider, such as system software developer, hardly do justice to the wide variety of work that someone with this job will actually do. Are they working in big data or virtual reality? Is a computer and information systems manager working in blockchain technology or in artificial intelligence? With all the work happening in health care, such as bioprinting, job titles, such as licensed nurse practitioner, don’t really speak to the new fields of study in nursing.
Let’s take a look at the Business Insider list and examine which computer related jobs they’ve included.
IT Jobs for the future:
· Information Security Analysts
· Computer User Support Specialists
· Systems Software Developers
· Computer Systems Analysts
· Application Software Developers
· Computer and Info Systems Managers
· All other Computer Specialists
We will explore the other jobs that made the list as we explore other industries. Right now, understanding what we do about the fourth industrial revolution, we can easily see that when it comes to computer jobs, the Business Insider article got it right. We will need IT people in all these areas: artificial intelligence, big data, the internet of things, blockchain and cloud computing, virtual and augmented reality.
If we are thinking that the fourth revolution is blowing our minds and changing the world, just wait until we tour through what’s happening in aerospace. Hold on to your seats as we head into…
Space: The New Frontier
According to Morgan Stanley, it is estimated that the aerospace industry will be a $1.1 trillion dollar industry by 2040. While we have seen lots of aerospace disasters, (space companies going defunct and rocket ships blowing up into spectacular fireballs) the reality is that the space industry is going ahead with or without most of us. While we are going about our planet Earth jobs, others on the planet are busy launching satellites, designing space suits, developing tools for space mining, and creating spaceports getting us one step closer to sending people to Mars.
Today I will cover four areas of the aerospace industry:
· Satellites
· Space Mining
· Space Tourism and Space Travel
· Moon and Mars
Satellites
Most public investment, in fact around 80%, is invested in the area of satellites and communication. We have come a long way in satellite technology, and companies like Space X and OneWeb (recently approved to be purchased by the UK government and Bharti Global Ltd) are looking to surround the Earth with so much satellite technology that no matter where you are on the planet, you will have access to Wi-Fi! Think back to the Internet of Things and all that technology being interconnected. It is estimated that, Space X’s Starlink program will launch as many as 30,000 satellites.
As most of us are already familiar with satellites, I am not going to focus on this specific technology for very long. Needless to say, there are many companies worldwide working on satellite technology. What’s important to note here is how many satellites are being launched everyday around the world by an ever-increasing number of countries and how this number will continue to grow.
But what is new in satellite technology?
Effective Space, a UK company, is working on drone technology that attaches to satellites and either provides additional fuel or provides repairs to extend the life of the orbiting satellite. Combining the fields of drone technology and satellite technology opens the door for lots of interesting work in the aerospace industry. As we expand our reach into deep space, robot technology will be necessary to do much of the work. Watch for more companies in the aerospace repair and maintenance field. Also, you may want to pay attention to a Japanese company, Astroscale, that is looking to clean up space junk.
Space Mining
A UK company, the Asteroid Mining Company, is looking to cash in on the vast array of riches in the asteroid belt. Think space gold rush.
But it’s an expensive proposition and is plagued with problems. How do you mine on an asteroid and bring back the riches you’ve acquired? Japan’s Haybusa-2 mission is bringing space mining closer to being a reality. The satellite’s mission is to land on the asteroid Ryuga, collect samples and return them to Earth. Part of this mission has already been successful, and two types of collection techniques were used making these the first underground space samples collected. Haybusa-2 will bring the samples back to Earth later this year.
Why asteroids, you may be asking. Think of a sea of minerals and riches orbiting around us. There are three major types of asteroids. “C-type asteroids contain water, carbon and phosphorous. Water could potentially be used as a source of fuel in space. S-type asteroids may contain nickel, cobalt, gold, platinum and rhodium. The richest of the asteroids, the M-type asteroids, contain up to ten times the metals of S-type asteroids. Helium-3, a possible energy source, is more abundant on the moon than on earth.”
Other reasons for space mining? Imagine removing mining from our planet and moving this industry out into space, then imagine the Earth returning to its original lush green state. Also, some minerals that are rare on Earth are more plentiful in space. Platinum, for example, which is used in hydrogen cars, is rare on Earth, but space mining could allow for the increased manufacturing of even more environmentally friendly vehicles. Platinum is currently very expensive, at over $26,000USD per kg. Increased supply from space mining could reduce the cost. Lastly, moving more mining operations into space would allow for more robots to be used in the mining process, protecting mining workers from exposure to harmful work environments. Rather than working in the mines, people would oversee these deep space mining operations.
Space Tourism and Space Travel
More and more private companies are getting into the space tourism and space travel business. As well, more countries are expanding their launch capabilities. For example, the UK is developing their new Cornwall site. “Cornwall and Virgin Orbit have committed to a partnership seeking to create a horizontal launch Spaceport at Cornwall Airport by 2021. It will have one of the UK’s longest runways, a rocket and propulsion test facility, a hangar and fuel handling facilities, a Mission Control, and a Space Gateway Innovation Centre.”
Speaking of Virgin, Virgin Galactic is ready to go. They are running their final tests. They have moved some of their California operations to New Mexico, the site of their space port. As of 2018, 600 people had already signed up and paid deposits to take the roughly $250,000 USD space ride. A quick calculation shows that will bring in over $150 million dollars in space tourism revenue to Virgin for just the first round of flights. In fact, there has been so much interest in space flights, there is now a sign-up spot on the Virgin Galactic website. You can put your own deposit of $1,000 down for priority seating to be one of the next space tourists. We will definitely be seeing space tourism flourish in the coming decade.
But space tourism is not the only use of space travel. Private companies, such as Sierra Nevada, Space X and Blue Origin, are also in the space travel industry, currently helping people get to the space station, with plans to get people to the Moon and Mars within the next two decades. Lastly, “Lockheed Martin has teamed up with Blue Origin and has been building the Orion capsules for NASA’s deep space missions, with NASA committing to buying six of their Orion capsules.” And speaking of the Moon and Mars…
Moon and Mars
This decade will see multiple countries, the US, the UK, Germany, China, Israel, Russia, and others landing on and sending equipment to the Moon to set up a sustainable working base. This project, known as NASA’s Artemis program, hopes to be up and running by 2028, and there is no reason it shouldn’t be a go. The first step in getting to Mars, is establishing this Moon base. So, get ready for more space travel in the near future.
Now, you may never work in the aerospace industry, but it is important for all of us to be aware of what is happening in this exciting field. Why? Because this is a rapidly growing field and we want to know if our schools and governments are investing in this industry. Remember, it’s expected to be a $1.1 trillion dollar industry by 2040. Think about when the aviation industry was in its infancy. That is where we are with aerospace. It’s an exciting field that is just starting to develop. This is an industry to watch, and this is the decade that aerospace is ready to take off. We will all want to be a part of it.
We can also see now how artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous vehicles fit easily into the aerospace industry. Post-secondary institutions with programs in these technological areas need to make sure that their students have access to courses relating to the aerospace industry. For example, the Colorado School of Mines has now developed a space resources course. The program focuses on “the discovery and cultivation of resources found on asteroids and other planets: the field of space mining.”
Let’s continue our journey of careers of the future by heading back to Earth to explore an industry that is extremely important to all of us, but almost forgotten. It’s also an industry that is changing rapidly and requires people who are interested in taking on the challenges of this industry. We need people who will help it grow into what it can be in the near future. In this industry, our feet will be firmly planted on the ground.
Agriculture
Why agriculture? Roughly 90% of the North American population lives in urban centres so why would we consider the agriculture industry for careers of the future?
With the world’s population expected to exceed 9 billion by the year 2050, we will need to figure out how to feed and clothe our ever-growing population. But there are labor shortages in agriculture. According to an article in Agcareers.com, back in 2013 there were over 56,000 jobs in agriculture that needed to be filled and only 29,000 graduates who qualified to fill these positions leaving almost 30,000 positions unfilled. Other countries are also experiencing these same labor shortages. Agriculture jobs are still in demand today.
If you are thinking these are just manual labor jobs, think again. Here are just a few of the higher paying jobs in agriculture:
· Agricultural lawyers responsible for mitigating land disputes
· Agricultural economists, who do research and market analysis
· Bio-informational scientists, who gather and update information on plant and animal life
· Animal geneticists, who help prevent genetic disorders and help animal species survive
· Agricultural operations managers, who oversee the operations of huge agribusinesses
These are just a few of the business and technical jobs the agricultural industry is trying to fill.
But the food and health industries are facing other issues as well, and the agricultural industry has answers. Obesity is still a major health issue in North America, and people need access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Also, as concerns for the environment become more prevalent, the need to grow more food locally instead of shipping foods around the world will be the answer. Enter the rise of food factories and farm-to-table restaurant dining.
Food Factories and Farm-to-Table
Imagine this. It’s the middle of January, its cold and snowy outside but the people of Jackson, Wyoming are enjoying fresh grown produce from Vertical Harvest, a vertical farm inside a building that takes up 1/10 of an acre but produces the same amount of food normally produced on 10 acres of land.
Warehouses all over the world are being turned into farms. Imagine growing produce over 4 stories in a building. As we build these food factories, we can easily multiply the amount of food we grow. For the people in Jackson, it means they get fresh produce, microgreens and tomatoes all year round when they normally only have a four-month growing cycle.
There are other advantages besides year-round food production and less land being used to produce the food. Reduced transportation costs mean food is less expensive to ship. Less fuel is used to transport the food, making for a greener industry. Less water is used because the water is recycled, and less fertilizer is used leading to less pollution of nearby water sources.
If those aren’t enough reasons to get excited about companies like Vertical Harvest, this particular company has created numerous jobs locally within their community, and they also believe in hiring people with disabilities, getting highly barriered workers back to work.
Food factories are nothing short of a miracle in remote areas with no access to fresh fruits and vegetables, such as northern communities. More exciting for restaurants, it allows them to offer more fresh choices for their customers and a true farm-to-table experience.
Before we leave the agricultural industry, let’s take a hop over to Japan, where a food company is taking food production into the realm of science fiction. Mirai Foods wants to produce foods that are economically, environmentally and ethically sustainable. Remember bioprinting? What if it were used to produce food? Mirai Foods is not bioprinting food but they are using animal stem cells and cultivating them to literally grow meat. Their reasoning: industrial meat production contributes 15% of greenhouse gas emissions. No more antibiotic fed animals. No more cruelty to animals. It will be like growing meat in a meat garden, or a meat plant. They want to be the leading company of cultivated meat by 2030. Another of their arguments is that the meat is leaner and healthier. Which takes us to our next stop on our journey, health services.
Health Services
We have already seen how augmented and virtual reality are changing the health care industry in terms of education and training. It is estimated that augmented reality and virtual reality in the healthcare industry will be a $5.1 billion business by 2025. Big data in health care is aimed at providing more detailed personalized health care, and the internet of things is allowing us to monitor seniors living on their own. By 2020, this year, medical data will be doubling every 73 days. It is estimated that $100 billion can be saved by the health care system by using big data and artificial intelligence. As we have also seen, bioprinting will change the way we have surgery and how doctors are trained.
What else is happening in health care that will change the industry in the next 10 to 20 years?
Globally, medical robots will be a $20 billion dollar business by 2023. That includes microbots that have the ability to target therapies to special parts of the body, such as delivering radiation to cancer cells.
Da Vinci systems is a robot assisted surgical system that has already performed over 6 million surgeries with over 30,000 doctors worldwide trained on the equipment. These systems are currently being used for minimally invasive heart surgeries, hysterectomies, hernia surgeries, and prostrate and kidney procedures. Because these procedures are often more accurately done with the help of robots, this area of medicine will only continue to grow.
Before we leave the field of health and medicine, we will make one last stop above our planet where a company called Space Pharma has created miniaturized microgravity labs to develop new drugs in space. In 2018, it successfully got its unmanned mini-lab to the International Space Station and back with their test samples. Drugs can be developed at a fraction of the cost, which is part of the reason for interest in this area. Some of their research involves drug resistant bacteria, stem cells, cancer and fluid physics. It turns out that zero gravity is a great environment for bacteria. It grows faster and stronger, allowing companies like Space Pharma to see how bacteria react in much shorter periods of time than on Earth, shortening the research and development time.
But all this technology requires a lot of energy and power.
Energy and the Environment
With all these advances in technology, we can easily see that we will be needing more and more energy to run all of it. With so many people and companies dependent upon consistent energy sources, we will need to make sure we are developing our power grid to handle these kinds of energy loads.
But with concerns over climate change and the environment becoming more and more important, the energy sector is being heavily scrutinized. Are wind and solar the answer? While wind and solar are wonderful green energy sources they are expensive for the little bit of power they produce and do not always offer reliable, consistent power. This may not seem like a problem in warmer climates but in colder climates with deep freeze weather, reliability may be the difference between life and death. As people look for answers, one energy source appears to making a comeback. Nuclear, but with a twist.
Small Modular Reactors
Small modular reactors, or SMR’s, are changing how we look at nuclear. With many current nuclear reactors needing to be replaced, and the demand for greener energy sources, SMRs solve a lot of problems and offer a very viable solution. Small modular reactors, as their name implies, are smaller than traditional reactors and can be manufactured and then moved, allowing for reduced production costs. They can be used separately or grouped together, making them a power source that fits many needs from remote locations to larger townships. Their newer designs also make them safer.
NuScale is a US company developing SMRs and has pretty much passed all government requirements to move ahead with production. These reactors are small and scalable, they take up less space than wind and solar, and they produce much more power. They can be arranged into groups of 12 for larger projects. If all goes well, NuScale will be ready to install the first reactor in Idaho in 2026, with more reactors being added to the grid in 2027. Expect this energy source to be a game changer in the energy sector.
Does this mean no solar or wind power? Moving forward, we will most likely see a combination of energy sources being used, including geothermal. In deciding which power sources to use, a combination of cost, available resources, and location will determine the best choice for each geographic location.
Exciting Work Opportunities of the Future
By taking a tour of the fourth industrial revolution and a number of industry sectors we can see that there are lots of interesting areas of work available for all kinds of skilled workers.
In this section, we will explore the remainder of the jobs that appeared in the Business Insider list of the top high paying jobs of the future. Then we will explore careers that weren’t mentioned but deserve notice, and lastly, we will look at non-technical careers for people who are not interested in technology and are wondering what they will be doing in this new world of work.
The Business Insider List: Top High Paying Jobs of the Future
In the Business Insider article, jobs were selected based on “the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections program, which estimates job growth for all occupations. These were combined with the 2019 earnings for each occupation from the Bureau’s Occupational Employment statistics program to determine which jobs would be both high growth and high pay, those paying over $39,000 USD.”
We already explored the IT jobs that made the list. Now we will examine the remainder of the jobs. I have taken the Business Insider top 30 list and arranged the remaining jobs into industry groupings to better examine careers in different industry sectors.
Trades:
· Plumbers, pipefitters and steam fitters
· Carpenters
· Electricians
· Construction managers and first line supervisors
· Heavy and tractor trailer-truck drivers
Even with the move to use more robotics, trades will still be in high demand, especially for custom work in the areas of renovations and restorations where work is very diversified and not easily repeatable.
I was surprised to find trucking on the list, though, especially with the move towards autonomous vehicles, but with the number of baby boomers retiring from this industry, there is still a need for truckers. Remember too that a number of companies have gotten out of the autonomous trucking business, so perhaps the changeover to driverless trucks may not happen as quickly as was expected or the demand for truckers may just be for the upcoming transition years.
Health:
· Nurse practitioners
· Physical therapists
· Medical and Health managers
· Physician assistants
· Licensed practical and vocational nurses
· Post secondary health specialties teachers
· Registered nurses
· All other physicians and surgeons
While these job positions are well known to us, we may not recognize the way some of these health care workers will be doing their jobs in the future. Bioprinting, robotics and big data will absolutely change the landscape of the health care profession. For those willing to keep updating their skills, there will definitely be work.
What we have learned with the corona-virus pandemic is that what we think the future will look like can change in an instant. This virus has taught us the importance of the fields of virology, microbiology, immunology, pharmacology and patient care. We have also learned that, more and more, we have the ability to work together as a global community and work collaboratively on problems that impact all of us. We have also learned the importance of the area of medical equipment and supplies.
Other Professionals:
· Sales and services
· Lawyers
· Market research analysts
· Management analysts
· Financial managers
· General and Operations managers
· Accountants and Auditors
Although it does not seem to be a popular career choice for a lot of people, sales and sales service are very high demand areas. All industries rely on sales to be successful, and good sales-people are hard to find. I always encourage clients who have never thought about sales to think about what industries they are interested in, and consider whether or not a sales job in that industry may be of interest.
Moving into the future, some people may want to consider the areas of international and immigration law, bankruptcy law and family law. The more the world shrinks, the more we will need international and immigration lawyers. Bankruptcy law is a field that should be considered for work stability. When times are good, lawyers are needed, but when there is a recession, there is even more work. With the divorce rate at 40% for first marriages and over 60% for second and subsequent marriages, mediators and family and divorce lawyers will still be needed.
As big data is used more and more to determine people’s likes and preferences, people will be able to find promising careers as market research analysts.
With so much change happening in every field, we will need management analysts, financial managers and general/operations managers. We will need managers and leaders in all industry sectors, including government. We need well trained, highly skilled people to navigate the waters of the fourth industrial revolution. We will also need strong financial thinkers to advise on financial decisions and company strategies, which is why we will still need accountants and auditors in the coming decade.
Careers Not on the List
One career that did not make the list is engineering. There will certainly be jobs in this field. Many petroleum engineers are ready to retire and will need to be replaced, and industrial engineers will be in high demand in the coming years. Also, automation engineering and the field of robotic engineering are seen as very high demand areas in the engineering world. Engineering may not have been considered an area of high growth, but only of regular growth. But certainly, engineers are an important part of the fourth industrial revolution and will be needed.
But with all careers, we are responsible for doing our due diligence and knowing what the demand is in our particular geographic region, because the demand for some jobs will be higher in certain places in the country than in other areas of the country.
Soft skills and Careers for the Non-technical
Wondering what jobs will be available for those who are not interested in working in technological areas? We will need many non-technical people in a wide variety of industry sectors.
Companies will be needing people to fill the Human Resources field in the area of learning and development. As technology changes, companies will need to keep up, and they are already discovering that it is much cheaper to train the staff you have than to recruit new staff. This is a growing area in the HR field.
We will also need:
· Teachers at all levels of education, and trainers to educate and train our workers of tomorrow, especially in areas of technology
· People in software implementation who can help customers learn new computer systems and software
· People in the customer service area, because as we move towards using more technology, people will still want quality customer service from companies
· Counsellors to help support people with mental illness, career changes, and relationships, and over the next few years to deal with the trauma and post traumatic stress caused by the pandemic, especially in some of the larger centres like New York City
· Youth psychologists and counsellors to help children and youth cope with bullying, health and mental issues as a result of verbal and psychological abuse from social media, and life changes brought about by divorce
There will still be lots of non-technical jobs, but again, all career decision makers will need to practice due diligence in their career exploration and career planning.
Other Trends
While what is happening with the fourth industrial revolution is important, it is also important to watch other trends that have nothing to do with technology. One trend I have noticed is that as we use more technology, it seems like we also move towards the trend of home comfort. Starbucks is a comfy place to hang out and we are willing to pay more for coffee to hang out there. Home renovation shows, home décor and staging are very trendy now. Our towels have gotten fluffier and we want our food to be better tasting and healthier.
In 2016, the Danish concept of “hygge” (pronounced hoo-guh) became the newest trend, encouraging people to “take pleasure in the presence of gentle soothing things.” While there is no English equivalent for the word, it derives from the Norwegian word hugga “to comfort or console,” which is related to the English word hug.
We see the trend of moving away from material items and consumerism; and towards having life experiences. This is exemplified in the trend towards tiny houses. For some people, it’s for financial reasons. For others, it’s for lifestyle changes. They don’t want to be burdened by taking care of things, and would rather be out living life.
It will be interesting, too, to see the impacts on our society from the pandemic. Working from home became a necessity for business survival and most people were forced to learn teleconferencing skills very quickly. Now even grandma is a Zoomer. Children have been learning from home and families have been spending more time together than they have for decades. Some have been overwhelmed with these changes and others have embraced them.
Moving forward, will more children be home-schooled allowing for more family time? Will more families leave the city to have more space and get back to a simpler life, since teleconferencing allows us to work from anywhere? As more people get into gardening and cooking, will we see a trend away from fast food and the restaurant industry? No one knows with perfect certainty what the future will bring. But what we do know is that adaptability will be a key core competency for all workers.
Looking for Future Work Opportunities
William Bridges stated "We all will have to learn new ways to work...While in some cases, the new ways of working will require new technological skills, in many more cases, they will require something more fundamental: the "skill" of finding and doing work in a world without clear-cut and stable jobs...Today's workers need to forget jobs completely and look instead for work that needs doing, and then set themselves up as the best way to get that work done" JobShift – 1994.
Bridge’s statement is just as true today as it was when he wrote JobShift.The corona-virus has given us a unique opportunity to view the impact of monumental change to all industries over a very short period of time. What we’ve seen is that some businesses have thrived while others have struggled. The ability to see opportunity, to be flexible and to know how to quickly pivot to meet the changes happening in the workplace are qualities businesses always need. The information age happened over a span of 70 years, and the fourth industrial revolution has already been going on for 20 to 30 years. Some companies were able to adapt to the information age while others were not. The pandemic has sped up this process of change throughout an era, allowing us to see in real time what it takes to be successful in changing times. Sporting goods manufacturers created medical face shields, fashion garment manufacturers sewed masks, and Virgin Galactic developed oxygen hoods. Are any of these companies in the medical supply business? No.
But they live Bridges’ words. “Look instead for the work that needs doing, then set yourself up as the best way to get the work done.” By paying attention to the fourth industrial revolution and the changes coming, we will all be better prepared for the workplace of the future. Therefore, it’s important for all career decision makers to be asking this question:
· How will the fourth industrial revolution impact my industry or the work I am interested in pursuing?
The reality is, for those who work on developing their career decision making skills and those who use their critical thinking skills, there will be numerous career opportunities available now and, in the future, just as there have been opportunities to make adjustments and make businesses flourish during the pandemic.
Final Thoughts
Why should we care about the fourth industrial revolution? Because just as the computer changed our work world, the fourth industrial revolution is changing our current work place.
We are going to need highly skilled, highly trained people to work in these fields but if people don’t know about this information or these career options, we will have an even greater labor shortage in high demand areas.
In many ways, we are still struggling with the information and computer age. Think of how many people are computer illiterate. IT is still a high demand area, and we will continue to experience even greater demand. As our dependence on technology continues to grow and we expand into these new fields, we will need to continue to protect our data. It is estimated the we will need 1.5 to 2 million cyber security workers worldwide in the next few years. This is just one area of work, and these numbers don’t include instructors or management positions.
As our use of technology grows, we will need more and more power from sustainable, clean energy sources. As our population grows, we will continually need more food sources. As we venture into space, we will continually need more engineering skills, and careers in fields we have never heard of, such as astro biology (yes, it is a real field of study). And we will need people to teach these fields of study and manage these industries. We will need sales people in these areas, as well as marketers and human resources personnel.
Lastly, even if you have no plans to work in any of these exciting new fields, I would like you to think about that speech you are going to give to those 1970 university grads. What would you tell them? What would you say to those grads who have no interest in computer science? I know I would tell them that they may not want to work in that field, but every industry has been touched by the information age. It will be the same for the fourth industrial revolution. It will touch all industries and change how we work today.
We could tell them about the internet and iPhones and tablets. We could tell them about emailing, texting, social media and Youtubing. But it would be more difficult to tell them how all these technologies have changed how we work and the work we do.
Why do we want to know about the fourth industrial revolution? Because just as the computer changed our world of work, the fourth industrial revolution is also going to change our world and we all need to be ready.
References:
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