The shift we have had: from hands to heads
Many of the jobs we do today require cognitive rather than manual capabilities. Over the past two decades, non-routine jobs have particular increased. Between now and 2030, 86 percent of the jobs created will be knowledge worker jobs. According to Deloitte, by 2030, one quarter of Australia’s workforce will be professionals. Most of these will be in business services, health, education or engineering.
The shift we will have: from heads to hearts
The trend so far has been jobs that require you to use your head rather than your hands. We have used technology to create more meaningful work. However, the pandemic and other global challenges have required us to find creative and interpersonal solutions to our problems, which means jobs will increasingly require skills of connection and innovation.
The future of work will be female
Furthermore, trends reveal that the future of work will be female. Firstly, women currently dominate the fastest growing jobs, and secondly, all employees will need to build skills and capabilities that have traditionally been the domain of women. These include the ‘soft skills’ that have perhaps been under-valued in the workplace in the past such as customer service, resolving conflict, people skills, communication, active listening, organisational skills, design, leadership, teaching and mentoring.