The job market is ever-changing. But, within the last few decades, technological advancement has gained such momentum that we’ve seen big career shifts. So naturally, we’re all afraid for the future of our own profession – but is your job really among those on the line, or is it about to flourish? Keep on reading to find out.
What’s New?
1. Content Creator
You’ve surely seen the influx of bloggers, vloggers, reviewers and other creators of online content. Most notable on YouTube, content creators produce mass entertainment that is a serious competitor to regular television.
Before the internet, entertainment jobs belonged to celebrities.
Nowadays, numerous social platforms have created professional content creators – some of whom earn several million dollars a year.
2. Uber Driver
Ten years ago, you would call a taxi and pray they had vehicles available, or try to hail one on a busy street. Not anymore. With Uber, and its equivalents all over the world, transport nightmares are over.
Anyone can be an Uber driver, regardless of their daytime job. All they have to do is fulfil the driver requirements set by the company. With this, taxi drivers and their companies have serious competition.
3. Machine Learning Engineers
With the development of artificial intelligence, the market for machine-learning engineers has broadened. But, they are not your average engineers.
They are in charge of “raising” a machine by helping it learn specific functions, thus making it “smart”. As a result, you get smart appliances and digital assistants, such as Google Duplex. Turns out that even artificial intelligence needs “parents” to guide them.
4. Influencer
Instagram and Facebook have given rise to a digital calling many have decided to pursue. The infamous influencers are social media experts – like celebrities, but predominantly on the internet.
Like fashion gurus of the days of old, they follow all the online trends and the newest social fads across the world. Influencers can earn not just a pretty penny, but also goodies and promotional materials from famous brands, depending on the outreach and number of fans they have.
5. Software Developer
Software developers have become a necessity in this day and age. Ten years ago, cell phones and computers weren’t operating at a level this advanced. And now with smartphones, new kinds of software developers are needed to make our lives easier and more fun.
Every new app you try out, every new idle game you play or online store you visit, has been implemented by a software developer.
What’s Old?
1. Printed Newspaper
When was the last time you, or someone you know, bought newspapers? Or a magazine? We’re still likely to find them in doctor’s waiting rooms and hair salons, but even there, people sooner reach for their phones and ask for the Wi-Fi password.
As they say: news travels fast. And today, it travels instantaneously, thanks to social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, who are slowly replacing printed media. Along with them, online blogs have become the new cooking and lifestyle magazines.
2. Manufacture Worker
Machines are slowly replacing a lot of manual labour. Factories are closing down, and a lot of the manufacturing process has been automated. Textile factories, the food industry, machine manufacturing…
For example, cars are being made almost entirely by machines. The human factor is found only in monitoring the machines, inputting data into computers, surveying the process and adding the finishing touches.
3. Travel Agents
Fewer and fewer people are visiting travel agencies in their offices to find an agent who can hook them up with the best holiday offer. While older generations still rely on professional assistants, the younger ones are turning to alternatives.
Many of them are already booking their own tickets, finding lodgings at websites such as AirBnB, and checking online for the best tourist spots. And with these tech-savvy individuals, who knows if travel agents will exist by the time their children start travelling?
4. Broadcasters
The internet has introduced a kind of transparency that has far-reaching consequences. Today, most people will sooner trust an independent online news source, rather than television broadcasters.
With raw footage, eyewitness accounts and personal stories, social media platforms are slowly garnering more credibility than newscasters and major TV houses.
5. Bookkeepers and Accountants
Nobody likes to do their taxes. It’s tedious, requires a lot of time, and few are the people who actually do it in time. Which is why we often turned to accountants and bookkeepers. Especially businesses.
But that too is apparently slowly ending. New apps and software are being developed, in hopes of helping laymen like us do our taxes better. They’re meant to make the process easier by automating certain steps, or guiding us through like an accountant would.
What’s the Takeaway?
It’s fairly obvious that a lot of budding careers deal with the digital world in some form or another. This means that jobs dealing with older technologies are dying out, becoming obsolete. But, because we’re in an age of technological advancement, a lot of new career opportunities are springing up. New jobs are being created every few years.
