There’s one more reason not to fear the robots: They come bearing jobs.
Source: 3alexd / E+ / Getty
21 Jobs of the Future, a new report from Cognizant, a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services, points out that work is changing due to automation and artificial intelligence (AI) but it isn’t going away. Instead, new jobs will be required.
A changing workplace is not a new phenomenon, the report notes. Work has always changed. What’s more, the report indicates that “lots of current work is awful” – and “machines need man.”
The Future of Work
Indeed, given that people control technology, its effective utilization will depend on new jobs. And the jobs Cognizant cites aren’t for workers in a distance future. The company anticipates that these jobs will be part of the workplace within the next 10 years.
In considering jobs, Cognizant looked at a wide range of positions. However, some seemed further out on the horizon. Positions that didn’t fit the 10-year time frame include 3-D printing engineers, drone jockeys, human organ developers, teachers of English as a foreign language for robots, and autonomous fleet valets, among others.
Likewise, the company doesn’t include niche jobs, like tattoo removal artist, that may create employment for hundreds of people. It also doesn’t include jobs that are already well understood and poised for growth, like cybersecurity developer.
Instead, the report focuses on new jobs that will create mass employment in the near future.
Job Titles and Descriptions
When reviewing the list of jobs in the report, it’s easy to get hung up on position titles. After all, during the dot-com era, jobs sometimes had futuristic-sounding titles. The difference is those were the same old positions marketed to a new audience; these are entirely new jobs—and Cognizant describes the positions in detail.
Here are five jobs from among the 21 positions:
- Quantum Machine Learning Analyst
- AI-Assisted Healthcare Technician
- Bring Your Own IT Facilitator
- Financial Wellness Coach
- Fitness Commitment Counselor
Some positions among the 21, and among those on this short list, are more tech-centric than others.
A quantum machine learning analyst, for example, will “research and develop next-generation solutions by integrating the disciplines of quantum information processing with machine learning” and “apply quantum technologies to improve the speed and performance of learning algorithms and address real-world business problems in the fastest time possible.”
A fitness commitment counselor, on the other hand, is a position for a registered nurse or a credentialed fitness coach. The counselor provides “one-on-one daily, weekly, and biweekly remote coaching and counseling sessions that help improve wellness for ‘instrumented participant patients,’ all of whom have been voluntarily outfitted with wearable smart bands to monitor their physical activity.” Technology comes into play, but a technology background is not a prerequisite.
These and other job descriptions in the report provide an interesting, and important, look at how the workplace is changing. The full report is available here.
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Paula Santonocito, Contributing Editor for Recruiting Daily Advisor, is a business journalist specializing in employment issues. She is the author of more than 1,000 articles on a wide range of human resource and career topics, with an emphasis on recruiting and hiring. Her articles have been featured in many global and domestic publications and information outlets, referenced in academic and legal publications as well as books, and translated into several languages. |