You might assume that farming is basically about getting up at 5.30 in the morning and shovelling manure, but you’d be wrong.
Ed Greig, chief disruptor at Deloitte Digital, who was brought up on a farm, should know: “Shovelling manure does happen, maybe not at 5.30am, but actually lots of farms have social media managers now,” he says. “Many farms require web development because they’re running quite sophisticated tech operations. There’s a big role for marketing to be played in there – these are all serious roles within agriculture now.”
In nearly every industry and service in the world, the tentacles of tech are now firmly embedded and teenagers need help to access the opportunities this has created.
“Young people need to recognise this world and understand how the skills that they are developing in their daily lives are actually applicable,” says Greig. He cites activities that many teenagers spend time doing: building up a following on social media, making videos, writing content and creative problem solving, but don’t necessarily see as bankable skills.
“Career capital” is how Ranulf Kinloch Jones, former teacher turned product manager at PwC, refers to it.
“For Gen Z, it is about developing an arsenal of skills that are broad and transferable so that when jobs change, you can adapt or switch jobs,” says Kinloch, whose TikTok channel Beyond the Blackboard, offers young people help and advice on next steps. “One in three people born now is expected to live to 100. That’s a long time to be working; and it will be a different model to the upward trajectory and the retirement cliff edge that has characterised careers in previous generations.”
A recent report by the World Economic Forum report predicts that over the next few years, the adoption of AI and machine learning will impact 85 million jobs. The flip side is that 100 million jobs will emerge from the new technology. If you know don’t know what a prompt engineer, a UX designer or a full stack developer do, it’s time to find out as they are already hot tickets.
It’s is about developing an arsenal of skills that are broad and transferable so that when jobs change, you can adapt
“That’s a net job creation,” says Shivani Maitra, a partner in Deloitte’s future of work team. “But there needs to be investment in educating and reskilling people. In the Government’s national Digital Strategy, a survey of over 1,000 businesses said they needed to recruit for roles that require hard data skills but couldn’t find the people.”
Such is the shortage that the Government is funding a degree conversion course in data science and AI, which will upskill 2,500 graduates.
“Governments and organisations definitely need to take some responsibility for making sure there’s a focus on reskilling and that the right curriculum is being offered to students,” Maitra says.
One future field where she predicts new job creation is in misinformation; a new role to figure out what is false and what is real online. “I think that is going to be a big thing,” she adds.
Whether in the digital space or in the worlds of advanced manufacturing, green energy or health, tech opportunities are booming.
“Highly skilled technician jobs are where the growth is and there is a really crude message about earnings that needs to be put out there so young people understand what is in it for them,” says Ben Blackledge, interim CEO of WorldSkills UK.
Existing sectors, as well as new ones, are being redefined by the technology they use and young people have to try to make sure they are riding that wave.
“The mechanic of tomorrow is going to be different from the mechanic of today who is dealing with electric vehicles,” says Blackledge. “Electricians will need to be versed in renewable energy. When it comes to nuclear power stations or wind farms, welding is at a whole different level. An industry that you might have thought is not for you at all could fundamentally change over the next 10 years and require a broader range of people.”
We will also need people who are able to think about how technologies can be useful and how they will affect our lives, both positively and negatively. In the ascendency of the algorithm, hoaw do we maintain the humanity?
“Creativity, empathy and critical thinking are never going to go out of fashion,” said Blackledge. “There are loads of ways of developing those and we need to start preparing teenagers better and thinking of the role of education as teaching young people how to learn.”
