Extract from ABC News
Updated about
6 hours ago
Nearly
half of Australian jobs are at risk of computerisation and
automation, the Federal Government's latest report on the future of
the workforce has found.
In 20
years, you will probably be a casual worker and your office will be
shared with strangers — that is if a robot is not doing your job.
Report findings:
- In the next 20 years, 44 per cent of Australian jobs are at risk of computerisation and automation
- All industries will be affected by automation
- More people will work in shared "co-working" spaces
- There will be even more casualisation of the workforce
- Careers in the service industry will grow with the ageing population
- Generation Z will need to be creative and entrepreneurial
Minister
for Employment Michaela Cash launched the report in Sydney yesterday,
which found 44 per cent of Australian jobs were under threat.
She
said it was time to "embrace the change".
"We
can either be dumped off our surfboards into the sea by future waves
of innovation, or we can aim to catch the crest of each wave and surf
it into an exciting and prosperous future," Senator Cash said.
The
CSIRO and the Australian Computer Society wrote the report,
Tomorrow's Digitally Enabled Workforce, and one of the paper's
authors — Andrew Johnson, the CEO of the Australian Computer
Society — said all industries were going to be affected by
automation.
"We
have an economy in transition and we need to upskill our current
workforce to they can anticipate the jobs of the future," he
said.
The
report found there would be more demand for people with science,
technology, engineering and mathematics knowledge in future.
They
are the sectors with the biggest increases in job numbers and wages.
But
the supply of Australian students interested in those subjects is not
meeting demand.
"One
of the key findings of the report is we need to focus on
entrepreneurism, innovation, giving our kids the ability to go and
create their own jobs in the future, rather than having the
expectation that big business will be there when you leave university
or leave school," Mr Johnson said.
Gen Z encouraged to be creative, entrepreneurial
The
report predicted more people would work in shared "co-working"
spaces.
It
also said there would also be even more casualisation of the
workforce.
In
the US, a third of people are independent or freelance workers, and
the report suggested that trend would be mirrored in Australia.
Andrew
Maynard, the director at the Risk Innovation lab Arizona State
University, said the report's findings were nothing new.
"It's
important, but we've seen both this trend in an emphasis on
innovation and especially an emphasis on digital technologies for
some time now," Mr Maynard said.
"So
in the States there's been a very heavy emphasis there.
"Most 15 year olds are going to have up to 17 different jobs in five different industries ... and in order to be prepared for that kind of working life ... they're going to need to ... have a very broad based, what we describe as enterprising skill set."
Foundation for Young Australians CEO Jan Owens
"The
World Economic Forum recently focused on what they're calling the
fourth industrial revolution, which captures this, but they've been
looking at trends in job markets in particular as a result of this
changing technology landscape."
With
the growth in the ageing population, careers in the service industry
are expected to grow.
There
will be a bigger demand for health care and social assistance jobs,
as well as in the education, training and the creative sectors.
Nearly
two thirds of Australia will become dependent on the labour force by
2046.
Neer
Korn, a social trends researcher, said employers needed to be more
open to taking on older workers.
"The
older employees that are coming forward, about one in five employees,
workers, will be over the age of 65," he said.
"And
the older employees recognise this and they want to remain useful and
talented and work, however we've got a problem in terms of convincing
employers to give them a go."
As
for the kids in Generation Z, those born between 1995 and 2009, the
report said they were going to need to be creative and
entrepreneurial.
The
non-profit group Foundation for Young Australians recently found that
60 per cent of Australian students were training for jobs that would
not exist in the future.
Chief
executive Jan Owens said there was a disconnect between the skills
young people are training for and what the market wants.
"Most
15 year olds are going to have up to 17 different jobs in five
different industries," he said.
"And
in order to be prepared for that kind of working life, which is very,
very different to their parents or their grandparents, they're going
to need to ... have a very broad-based, what we describe as
enterprising skill set."
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