Within the budding fourth industrial revolution, the digitization and automation of processes continues to develop. This has consequences for the labor market, as it is being revolutionized bit by bit and new occupational fields are being created.
Many professions remain, while others disappear from the scene. These conditions are characterized by technological progress, which is gaining in importance in all areas of life. But how does this affect the labor market in concrete terms?
Trends within education
One indicator of the strong change is the changes in the field of education. Accordingly, the number of degree programs offered amounts to more than 20,000 and has almost doubled in the last two decades. The reason for this can be, on the one hand, the increasing requirements of the hard skills of the applicant, which is created by a solid study within the targeted industry.
On the other hand, however, many completely new courses of study have been created in recent years in particular as a result of the shortage of skilled workers, especially within technological and innovative fields.The importance of scientific subjects such as mathematics, information technology, natural sciences and technology (MINT) at schools and universities is receiving increasing attention in order to counteract these shortages in a structured manner. In terms of the number of STEM university graduates, Germany is in the European midfield, but still ranks above the OECD average.
Change in the professional world
With the increasing networking via social media, the presentation of companies to the outside world is becoming more and more important. With social media, companies have the opportunity to present themselves in an all-encompassing and attractive way and to address their target group directly. Regular interaction with the community on the existing channels and a high recognition value through the development of a company's own visual language with elements of corporate identity are of great importance.
Authenticity as a decisive factor in the perception of the company
Within the professional world, skills such as flexibility and networked thinking are coming into focus for working professionals. This requires the support of companies, which call on employees to train their digital know-how and use it in a contemporary manner. Thus, digitalization is permanently changing the way we work and shaping our working world. Away from this, the Corona pandemic led to changes as well as revenue losses. Due to the numerous contact restrictions, digitalization accelerated and led to new work models such as hybrid work.
At the same time, artificial intelligence will also become more and more a part of our everyday lives. An AI specialist therefore has a good chance of being in demand in the job market and of building himself into it more broadly. The appearance of automated cars to autonomous production lines or robots that assist surgeons during operations is also possible and quite conceivable. These reflect the adoption of new technologies, leading to greater demand for green economy jobs, positions at the forefront of the data and AI economy, and new positions in engineering, cloud computing, and product development.
Labor costs within the labor
Companiesare all the more compelled to invest in additional automation if labor costs rise. A renewed influx of labor from abroad would keep labor costs at a low level and provide less incentive for process automation.
Perspectives of the new trends
Theincreasing digital linking of applications is also creating new prospects. According to experts, a good 26 to 50 billion end devices are likely to be connected by 2020, which will further increase demand from companies and consumers for innovative solutions.
Accordingly, we can expect numerous adaptations within technological progress in the future, which will be tested through continuous learning. Likewise, futuristic jobs must be considered to keep up with the times.
Sources:
How Germany will work tomorrow - The future of the working world (ey.com)
New working: These 10 trends will determine the working world of tomorrow (stadtmarketing.eu)
Professions with a future: The trend professions of tomorrow (weltverbesserer.de)
Images:
Pexels.com
