Lisa Denny

Jobs of the future coming ready or not

GETTING and keeping a good job is one of the most important life objectives for most people across diverse geographies, cultures and demographics worldwide.

To quote Liz Gilbert of Eat Pray Love fame, you do absolutely need a job. Unless you have a trust fund, or just won the lottery, or somebody is completely supporting you financially, you need a job.

A job allows people to participate in society, contribute to community and generate income to support themselves and dependants. Jobs provide security and freedom of choice and form an important part of self-identify and self-worth.

It is no wonder that as we face a wave of technological megatrends, collectively known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (think the internet of things, artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, the growing peer-topeer market place, digital disruption and so on), that the future of work and the implications for society are at the forefront of thinking for many people.

While it is universally accepted that change is constant and that labour markets have always responded and evolved accordingly, the difference we are experiencing now is the rate of change. As industries respond to this revolution, most occupations are undergoing a fundamental transformation.

The full extent of this is yet to be felt in Australia’s labour market, and, as Tasmania traditionally lags the nation, perhaps we are well positioned to respond.

In having this discussion, it is important not to ignore the elephant in the room — one in three Tasmanians live in the 20 per cent most disadvantaged regions in Australia, around half of Tasmanians are functionally illiterate and 74,000 live below the poverty line. A fifth of Tasmanian children are growing up in a family in which no parent works, in an economy in which welfare payments are considered the most secure, reliable income.

Is Tasmania on the back foot in preparation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution? How can we ensure the gap does not widen?

These are the issues that we at the University of Tasmania hope to tackle in a public forum on the Future of Work on Tuesday. What will the Fourth Industrial Revolution mean for Tasmanian industry, the broader economy, and the job market? How do we respond to change to ensure we are prepared for the future of work?

Much of the discussion about youth and employment is about ensuring future generations of workers are “job ready” but more recently there has been a shift in thinking that much greater onus needs to be placed on employers and getting them “youth ready”.

At the other end of the spectrum, one of Tasmania’s greatest challenges is its ageing population. Not only is this reshaping our industry base, a rapidly ageing population also means we have an ageing workforce combined with the cohort of younger generations getting smaller in size.

There are now more people of retirement age exiting the workforce than young people entering it. As the Australian Government strives to keep people in the labour force longer and as the economy transforms, Tasmanian educators and industries need to ensure that existing workers have the skills to adapt and be productive as work evolves.

We hope Tasmanian employers, teachers, parents, students and those in the wider community will come to our Future of Work event on Tuesday, as we tackle these issues.

Audience members will have the chance to hear from and ask questions of our panellists Elizabeth Lovett, a University of Tasmania alumnus who leads the Deloitte risk advisory practice in Tasmania; Joanna Siejka, the chief executive of Youth Network of Tasmania; James Wright, chief executive of the Future Business Council; and another UTAS alumnus, mobile app developer Paris Buttfield-Addison, co-founder Secret Lab and co-creator of the award-winning iPad games for the ABC, Qantas and others. Lisa Denny is a demographer and Research Fellow with the Institute for the Study of Social Change. She is chairing a free event on The Future of Work at the University of Tasmania in Sandy Bay on Tuesday from 6pm. To register visit www.events.utas.edu.au.