Posted by A research done at Oxford University shows that 47% of the jobs today will disappear in 10 years, with some of them being completely automated or at least upgraded to a point where only a fraction of the workforce is needed.
So, this will greatly impact the way you plan for the future as the environment is changing. If you’re currently working in either of these industries it might be a smart call to look for alternatives, don’t say I didn’t warn you! With that said, Below are 7 occupations which are likely to vanish or be automated over the next 10 years.
1: Drivers
Let me put it that way, if your job is to drive some form of machinery, car or truck, you will soon be out of work. Taxi drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers, uber drivers and delivery drivers are ALL on the verge of full automation.
Both the big car manufacturers are going for Electric & Self Driving cars and those not left behind. Riding a car shortly would be like getting on an elevator. You just press a button and you’ll be taken to wherever you want.
This might be simple if you’re a 20-30 year old at the moment, but what can a 50 + year old taxidriver be readapted to? Not sure these people will be able to move to virtual worlds from taxi driving to 3d modeling, but we’ll see.
2: Farmers
When it came back in the day to jobs numbers, farming was massive! That has made a drastic shift. In the undeveloped parts of the world, you may still see agriculture as an intensive human-labor, but on a macro level, this has already been automated and very few specially trained individuals who operate heavy machinery from the office’s comforts through wireless connections. You had to calculate your plot of land physically back in the day, you had human labor to root it out, and you needed another group of people to collect and move the end product to where it was needed.
Now, we ‘re testing stuff with drones or satellite imagery, the soil is already being treated for weeds or the seeds are weed resistant to start. Thanks to advanced equipment, harvesting and planting can be achieved in a tiny fraction of the time, and the trucks will be driving themselves very soon.
In the near future, carrying the title of “Farmer” would be as highly rated as banker or hedge fund managers, as when it comes to what you eat there will only be a handful of people getting an oligopoly. If it sounds absurd to you that only a few people are going to be in charge of our meals, you ‘re already too late at the table!
3: Printers & Publishers
The newspaper is gone, mainstream media are failing as the internet eats up everything. You don’t get your news from the papers any more, you get them as they happen through twitter or livestreams. Both the conventional magazines are struggling not to survive one or the other for their lives but to survive as a whole.
Most of the newspapers introduced a paywall to access written material for subscribers. Can you imagine if we’d enforce a paywall on bnw.com where you guys will have to pay $1 to find out what’s the world’s most expensive car? We would be out of business quicker than you could utter “Luxury” Big brands as struggling to find their place in this online-first world with the democratization of news outlets.
4: Cashiers
I know you’ve seen the self-checkout stations and they still have somebody overseeing them or they’re buggy now and then, but in this space we ‘re not far from taking over the machines completely. If you’ve been following what the biggest giants in commerce are doing, connecting the dots is easy.
5: Travel Agents
When was the last time you went on booking a flight to a travel agency?
Skyscanner’s likes have taken over the flight ticket industry, Booking.com over the hotel reservation industry and Airbnb is disrupting the entire hotel business. There’s no need for a third person to reserve the flight or hotel room for us, we can do it on our own, or better yet, you can tell SIRI to book it for you.
6: Manufacturing Workers
When the industrial revolution hit, all the people who worked in the fields moved to work in factories that handcrafted the machines to make life easier. In the process, and with the advancement of technology, these same people were entrusted with building machines that would build other machines that would eliminate human need.
A fun thing to do is to compare how cars were built in Volkswagen ‘s factories, and how they are built today, less than a hundred years ago. Multiple people back then worked in tandem to put the end product together, while you are watching simple software at work today. A while ago we heard this great quote stuck with us and it goes like this: “The future factory will have only 1 human and 1 dog. The human will be there to feed the dog and the dog will be there to keep the human from touching the machines”
7: Bank Front Desk
No one goes to the bank to socialize. We use mobile apps today to check our bank balances, make payments, request for loans, pay salaries etc. If you need to withdraw money, you visit the ATM.
Some banks have gone a step further and allowed new members to open new accounts online without stepping a foot in the banking hall. If they need to see you in person, a video call will suffice.
The job environment is changing. Your current job will radically change going forward. If you are working in one of the industries mentioned above, it may be a smart call for you to start looking for alternatives.