With the arrival of new technology, we do see many traditional jobs being wiped out.
Fintech in banking is threatening to make most jobs obsolete as Artificial Intelligence replaces slow human reactions, blockchain will destroy inefficient business silos and robo advisors to provide better investment wisdom at a fraction of the cost. Driverless cars previously touted to appear by 2020 is already being launched next month. Once that becomes mainstream, the whole industry of drivers (truck/train/taxi etc) will be made redundant.
Reminds me of the SIMEX futures open outcry industry where I started my career. The instant the trading went online, it was a matter of months before all the tradition order fillers became jobless. Where does this leave us?
Career paths are now measured in a less than 3 years timeframe instead of a life long one. New types of jobs are being created as we speak, unheard of just a few years ago. With the internet, the whole wide world can be your audience now. There is no glass ceiling and your potential is only limited by your imagination.
Take the youtube blogging celebrity PewDiePie (go ask your kids). He is a 26-year-old guy who plays video games and films them with his commentaries (vlogs). Within 5 years, his youtube channel has garnered 47 million subscribers and 13 billion views. Rumour has it that he earned $15 million in 2015. How crazy is this? Doing something you like and getting paid gazillions for it… Pokemon Go fanatics can now easily monetize their passion into a career that will leave their parents dumbstruck…
We will see many more new jobs being created even as we lose more traditional ones. Web designers, bloggers, social media influencers and online e-commerce were all non-existent a few years ago. The younger generation gets to immediately compete and showcase their talent at a global level, not constrained by geography. Fascinating times indeed…
PS. Interesting factoid : Squeezing pimples are gross, right? Check out Dr Pimple Popper on youtube. The qualified doctor had been filming her ops for her records and then found out that people like to watch such videos. Since uploading her videos, she has become a mini-celebrity. My son says that watching them is quite therapeutic … I had to stop myself from watching them after day 3 . Ewww….
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