Bayt.com weekly report

Will robots place you out of your job?

In recent years, many of you will have heard of the socalled ‘skills gap’ in the Middle East and North Africa. Whether you know what it is or not, you may be on the fence about it. You might agree that there is a wide skills gap in the MENA region, or you might think it’s a scaremongering buzzword designed to cause unnecessary anxiety amongst those in the MENA workforce. However, it is not a groundless theory at all. There are many market trends which have already had an impact on our lives and have the potential to exact irreversible consequences on the way people live, work and think. To expand on this explanation, allow us to look at a few examples.

First, there is the technological acceleration which has defined the past two decades. Over half of the global population will be online by 2021. By 2030, the share of online population incidence in the GCC will range between 85-95 percent, whereas Egypt and Levant will be in the world average at around 50 percent. By 2020, 54 percent of the Middle East and North Africa population will have a mobile phone. Consider these numbers, and then think about the world we live in today - a world where the human race continues to advance in the realm of artificial intelligence and automation and where many jobs may slowly become obsolete.

Removing humans from the equation when it comes to certain tasks and roles is something that exists in all industries, from factories which now rely on machinery for tedious, monotonous work to publications slowly migrating to the internet and the threat that poses to print houses.

When all the above is brought into consideration, the key question asks itself: Will my job be secure in 10 years?

With the intention of answering that question, Bayt.com, the Middle East’s #1 job site conducted research in collaboration with YouGov in order to discern which skills are missing today and assess the validity of the MENA skills gap. This report provided eyeopening insights about the MENA region and the skills that employees lack as well as information about the state of the professional sphere. For example, the report revealed that more than six in ten employers believe there is a skills gap in the Middle East, in addition to more than fine in ten job seekers who believe the same. Since the majority of employers and job seekers appear to be in agreement, there may be some truth to the skills gap phenomenon that has been prevailing over the MENA region.

A deeper look at the report can provide answers to the aforementioned key question. The data pointed to a prominent lack in skills that require interpersonal and communication intelligence. Aside from time management and efficiency, the skills which are considered of highest import indicated a need for human, emotional and social intelligence that a machine cannot currently substitute. What this shows is that while there is a chance artificial intelligence, technology and robots will be taking over the world as we know it in a matter of decades, humans who know how to work with humans will still have their spot in the marketplace, at least for the foreseeable future.

So, which skills are in high demand in the present market? According to respondents, the three highest ranking skills for junior roles were as follows:

1. Teamwork

2. Time management

3. Written communication

All these skills can readily be enhanced through taking online courses or poring over literature that is physically or digitally accessible. Technical or job-specific experience and knowledge, usually learned through university or other forms of higher education, falls in the sixth spot in terms of significance, listing below soft skills which can be acquired at any time such as those aforementioned as well as critical thinking, and people management. This emphasized the importance of personal development and on-the-job training beyond formal and technical education.

As for senior roles, the three skills outlined

below ranked the highest:

1. Time management

2. Teamwork

3. People management

These skills are not related to education and are vital for both junior and senior employees. Therefore, it is critical to continuously work toward developing these skills in order to succeed in today’s professional sphere. While the skills regarded with most importance are similar for both junior and senior roles, ‘written communication’ looks like a skill junior employees have to excel in should they want to achieve success in today’s business world. As important as mastering the technical requirements of a job is, these soft skills play a considerable role in determining your career progression and success.

What about the future?

The Bayt.com research report also asked both employers and employees if technical skills or soft skills are going to be considered more important in the future. It comes as a surprise that while the majority of junior job seekers believe technical skills will be equally important as soft skills, over four in ten seem to think that technical skills will have more significance in the future.

After all, even if robots do eventually come to replace humans, these robots will be built, maintained and developed by humans. Intricate details of the techdriven business world might, indeed, require technical excellence. It’s worth noting that all across the board, more than five in ten employers believe that soft skills and technical skills will be equally important, and generally, a smaller percentage of employers than employees believe that technical skills will come out on top.

Of those who participated in the research, employers and employees alike appear to expect some skills that are most critical in 2017 to change in ten years, stating skills such as creative thinking, computer skills and time management to be of most importance in 2027.

At the end of the day, only time will tell what the future will bring and whether or not new skills such as translating data into insights, new media literacy, effective communication channel management, or virtual collaboration will become the keystones of success. One thing we know for certain is that now is the time to take action and preparatory steps. Focus your efforts on improving both your soft and technical skills and take time aside for your own personal development, lest you find yourself lost in time at the turn of the next decade.