What jobs will be around in 20 years?

There are consistent claims that the apocalypse will be brought on by robots soon. A study conducted by McKinsey & Company in January discovered that approximately 30 percent of tasks in 60 percent of occupations. Additionally, the chief economist at the Bank of England stated that 80 million jobs in the United States and 15 million jobs in the United Kingdom are at risk of being automated.

Obviously, not all jobs are produced on an even playing field. Some jobs, such as telemarketers, tax preparers, and sports referees, are at a greater risk than others, such as recreational psychologists, dentists, and physicians, according to the findings of a study titled The Future of Employment, which was conducted in 2013 by academics from Oxford University and has been widely cited. The study examined 702 common occupations.

In the past, stories of the demise of human occupations have often been grossly overstated, and technology has produced a great deal more jobs than it has eliminated. This is because technology has created a lot more jobs than it has eliminated. The term "Luddite Fallacy" was coined in reference to a group of textile workers in the 19th century who destroyed new weaving machines because their jobs became obsolete as a result of technological advancements. In addition, for the last sixty years, the rise of automation has removed exactly one kind of job:

Even though there have been optimistic predictions that new technology would increase prosperity and reduce drudgery, very few of us are working the 15-hour work week that, in 1930, the economist John Maynard Keynes predicted would be the norm for his grandkids. This is because there have been optimistic predictions that new technology would increase prosperity and lower drudgery. On average, each day is taking us 15 hours to complete.

The industrial revolution was a very different animal from the technology revolution that we are seeing now. The rate of change is accelerating at an exponential rate, and its scope is becoming far more extensive. An scientist from Stanford University named Jerry Kaplan said in his book Humans Need Not Apply that the current state of automation is "blind to the color of your collar." It makes no difference whether you work in a factory, are a financial counselor, or are a professional flute player; automation is on its way to replace all of these jobs.

Which occupations have the highest rate of fatalities?

It is important to emphasize that automation is not always associated with the loss of jobs before we go too far into the gloom and doom mindset. Frey was keen to stress out to me when we were speaking on the phone that his study does not make any specific forecasts such as "47 percent of US employment would go." It only states that certain types of employment are vulnerable to becoming automated.

To put it another way, the jobs won't go away totally; rather, they will take on new forms and responsibilities. Naturally, as Frey admits, "from the standpoint of the worker there is not much of a difference" between employment being obsolete and being fundamentally reimagined. This is the case regardless of whether scenario occurs first. They probably won't have the updated skill sets that are necessary for the position, and as a result, they'll be out of work nonetheless.

This contrast is emphasized by Professor Richard Susskind, who is also the author of the books The Future of the Professions and Tomorrow's Lawyers. He notes that in many occupations, you will be required to do a variety of duties. "What you're going to see for a lot of positions is a churn of various tasks." Therefore, a lawyer in the year 2025 will build systems that are capable of offering advise, when a lawyer today does not. They will still be referred to be attorneys, but they will practice law in a new capacity.

Which occupations, therefore, are most likely to be affected?

According to Martin Ford, a futurist and author of the book Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future, the professions that are most susceptible to being automated are those that "are on some degree regular, repetitive, and predictable."

According to the research, The Future of Employment, extremely regular jobs like telemarketing, which is an example, have a 99 percent possibility of becoming automated; you may have already observed an increase in annoying robocalls. The process of preparing taxes, which entails methodically analyzing enormous volumes of predictable data, is likewise at risk of becoming automated 99 percent of the time. In point of fact, technology has already begun to perform our taxes for us: H&R Block, one of the major suppliers of tax preparation services in the United States, is now employing Watson, IBM's platform for artificial intelligence.

There is a 94% chance that positions now held by paralegals and legal assistants will be automated by computers in the near future. This is because robots will take over the more monotonous activities in professions such as the legal system. A recent analysis compiled by Deloitte indicated that in the next 20 years, there is a significant possibility that over 100,000 employment in the legal industry may be replaced by machines.

Cooks working at fast food restaurants are also at risk of having their employment taken over by robots like Flippy, an AI-powered kitchen helper that is currently working in a handful of CaliBurger restaurants flipping burgers. This scenario has an 81 percent chance of occurring.

Wait! Which occupations are most likely to be immune to automation?

The futurist at Ford divides employment that are likely to be stable into three categories.

The first category consists of professions that need "true creativity," such as becoming an artist or a scientist or coming up with a novel approach to doing business. According to Ford, "For the time being, humans are still the greatest there is at creation. However, there is a caveat there." In twenty years, I won't be able to say with absolute certainty that a computer won't be the most inventive thing on the whole globe. There are now computers on the market that are capable of painting their own unique pieces of art. After other words, in twenty years, who can say how far it will have progressed?

The second category consists of jobs that need you to cultivate intricate connections with individuals. For instance, working as a nurse or in a commercial capacity that requires you to cultivate intimate ties with customers fall into this category.

The third category consists of tasks that are fraught with a great deal of unpredictability, such as working as an emergency plumber who is sent to a variety of different sites.

You can see the interaction of these factors in the occupations. According to The Future of Employment, the occupations that are least likely to be affected by automation are those that include occupational therapists, social workers in healthcare, recreational therapists, first-line supervisors of mechanics, installers, and repairers.

If you work in a business that focuses on creativity or people, you may be able to maintain your job for the next ten or so years. However, it is very difficult to forecast what will happen in the next twenty years. In point of fact, Susskind underscores the need of not underestimating the magnitude of the impact that computers may have on the working world.

She has said that she is of the opinion that the 2020s would not be a decade marked by unemployment but rather by redeployment. Beyond that, on the other hand, the picture is far less clear: "I don't believe anybody can conduct long-term career planning with any certainty." While it is true that, as Susskind points out, "we make assumptions about the indispensability of human beings," the reality is that robots are now capable of performing tasks that we previously believed were only possible for people to do. They are able to create their own unique songs, for instance, and defeat professional players in difficult board games by coming up with new strategies.

They are even assisting us with the ways in which we relate to God. Susskind thinks that even algorithms might one day replace the ordained in the future, despite the fact that the clergy only has a 0.81 percent likelihood of becoming automated, according to research from The Future of Jobs. There are already mobile applications available, such as Confession, that provide "drop-down choices for recording sin," as he points out.

What steps can you take to be ready for the shift that is about to occur?

Justin Tobin, who established the innovation consultancy DDG, is quoted as saying that he is of the opinion that "more and more independent thinkers are realizing that when being an employee is the equivalent to putting all of your money into one stock – a better strategy is to diversify your portfolio." You're probably seeing a significant increase in the number of persons wishing to broaden their professional horizons.

A futurist by the name of Faith Popcorn believes that in the not too distant future, everyone of us will need to become as adaptable as we possibly can and "have numerous types of skill and jobs that you can supply the economy."

She predicts that in the not-too-distant future, each of us will have seven or eight different occupations, and the typical adult will work for a lot of different businesses at the same time rather than for a single large company.

Popcorn expresses concern that "we are in the middle of this enormous sweeping transformation that is going to effect all sectors of society."

Even though Popcorn makes her living by predicting the future and has established somewhat of a reputation for herself over the years as a result of this, even she seems to be feeling a little uneasy about the rapid speed of change that is occurring in the world today. It "just makes you want to drink some more tequila," she says to me with a world-weary sigh as she explains it to me.