Technology has come for us all, but how you respond will determine whether you become a victim or a winner

“Technology has come for us all, but how you respond will determine whether you become a victim or a winner.”

That was my closing remark at the HIdea Labs event last weekend.

I had visited my Alma Mater, Obafemi Awolowo University to speak to members of the HIdea Labs, on the nature of work in the 21st century.

I’m pretty sure you would benefit from some of the insights shared at the event (by me and other speakers), so here I have tried, as much as I can, to capture all that in this summary.

I hope you learn something new.

Contrary to the doomsday prophecies of “experts”, technology will not create massive unemployment

In fact, over the course of history, new technologies have been found to create more jobs than they took away.

Television retired some jobs but paved the way for new ones.

Imagine how many TV presenters, scriptwriters, producers, make-up artists, sound engineers, and other crew members working behind the cameras to create one TV show.

PCs replaced typewriters and consequently typists, but just imagine the sheer number of new jobs/professions that have been created because of that one invention.

So while it’s true AI, ML, VR, Blockchain and other new technologies will automate mundane tasks and consequently retire some workers, they will create new jobs.

The jobs of today will not be relevant in a few years, neither will existing job tasks be done as is, in a few years.

The WEF says 65% of children in primary schools today will end up working in completely new job types that don’t exist yet.

Also, over 50% of current employees will need to be retrained to be able to do their jobs in 2 years.

The takeaway here is to reinvent yourself through never-ending skill acquisition.

You need to keep acquiring in-demand skills to remain relevant.

Know what the market needs and ensure you’re skilled enough to provide it.

This also means work as we know it will continue to change.

Careers will no longer be unidirectional but multi-directional.

You can switch careers as many times as you choose and be proficient in all.

Whether you want to work be Software Engineer or a Copywriter, the skills required to work in the 21st century can be learned fast and put in use almost immediately.

Remote work, telecommuting, sharing economy, freelancing etc. are realities of the 21st century.

To conclude, work collaboration has moved on from the face-to-face interaction within the four walls of an office to remote partnerships across distant locations.

It is this freedom to work whenever, wherever, and however that underlies work in the 21st century and Plaqad is proud to be in on it by providing content creators, influencers and publishers real opportunities for work.

#GBS