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THE employment landscape over the next five to 10 years will see some occupations made obsolete while others are thrust into the spotlight.
Australians hoping to keep up will need to skill up, and take the changes in their stride.
Analysis of Federal Government forecasting predicts the country’s largest growth sectors between 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic) and 2025 are school education, with 105,400 or 19 per cent more roles; hospitals, where there will be 98,900 or 22 per cent more jobs; social assistance services such as youth welfare and non-residential aged care and disability care, to have 98,600 or 35 per cent more roles; computer system design and related services, with 98,600 or 40 per cent more roles; and cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services, with 71,800 or 12 per cent more roles created.
PwC Australia future of work lead Dr Ben Hamer says the types of jobs likely to grow in the coming years are those that are digital or uniquely human, and where person-to-person interaction is essential.
“When it comes to key industries, we can look to the recent federal budget to see significant investment in infrastructure and construction, which is already resulting in more jobs,” he says.
“We will also see growth in jobs that previously relied on skilled migrants, particularly in sectors already experiencing shortages, like health, aged care, and disability services.”
Meanwhile, other jobs are showing signs of disappearing.
“Jobs that are made up of a series of repetitive processes and tasks will likely be automated, while other roles will become obsolete due to changes in consumer preferences – for example, online shopping and automated check-outs,” Hamer says.
“We can expect to see many roles in financial services, retail, and manufacturing be impacted most, particularly as many of these jobs get automated.
“We can reasonably expect that up to a quarter of all roles in these industries will be automated over the next five years.”
New research from PwC reveals 32 per cent of Australians think their jobs will be obsolete within five years – but Hamer believes it will not be that bad.
“(That figure) is much higher than we can expect to play out,” he says.
“While it is reasonable to expect that this number of workers, and more, will have their roles impacted by technology, it highlights the uncertainty and anxiety that many people have when it comes to their careers.”
He says workers that hope to remain relevant into the future will need to develop human skills – such as empathy, creative problem solving, critical analysis and leadership – as well as commit to self-directed lifelong learning and digital literacy.
Encouragingly, the PwC report finds 75 per cent of Australians are ready to learn new skills.
Meanwhile, a report from Oxford Economics forecasts three out of five jobs in Australia will require advanced digital skills by 2030 and that the soft skills of agility, creativity and curiosity will be in demand in the future workplace.
Oxford Economics director Henry Worthington says workers will have to do the jobs that computers can’t do.
“This isn’t about robots taking our jobs, it’s about making sure we train up the next generation to think and work in ways which computers can’t,” he says.
“We need a more well-rounded education which focuses on creativity and critical thinking.”