Jobs and the Future of Work

Get ready for the jobs of the future: This week's Radio Davos

Job seekers congregate to apply for jobs at assembly factories as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)  outbreak continues in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico June 17, 2020. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez     TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC28BH9YTCKJ

Job seekers congregate to apply for jobs at factories in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico June 17, 2020. Image: REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Robin Pomeroy
Podcast Editor, World Economic Forum
Share:
Our Impact
What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Jobs and the Future of Work?
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Future of Work is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Technological Transformation

This article is part of: The Jobs Reset Summit
Loading...
  • The Jobs Reset Summit will take place 1-2 June.
  • Learn more and watch the public sessions here and follow on social media with the hashtag #JobsReset21.

Work from Home Facilitator, Algorithm Bias Auditor, Cyber Calamity Forecaster - are these the jobs of the future?

This week's Radio Davos digs into just these questions in a special preview to the second annual Jobs Reset Summit. This virtual event held 1-2 June convenes world leaders and top business executives to discuss how factors like wages, job creation and upskilling fit into an inclusive socio-economic COVID-19 recovery.

For a top-level view of these issues. the Forum's Saadia Zahidi joins this week's preview episode to discuss how the pandemic has accelerated job market transformations.

And for insights into whether new roles like 'Cyber Calamity Forecaster' will become more common, Bloomberg TV Editor at Large Francine Lacqua gives her take on an annual future of jobs list drawn up by the Cognizant Center for the Future of Work.

For a sneak peek of the event and this week's podcast episode, see collected highlights below:

Interview highlights - Saadia Zahidi

On virtual work:

With a shift towards almost exclusively virtual work for nearly a year, there has been a rise in working hours that is very different from what we've seen in the past, and it is, in part, due to the lockdowns, in part due to the pressures being faced by companies. And that is leading to a broader crisis around health and wellbeing and a need for companies to very consciously rethink what sort of work environment they're creating virtually.

Saadia Zahidi, Director, Head of Constituents, World Economic Forum
Saadia Zahidi Image: WEF

On social mobility:

Most generations believe that they can ensure that the next generation will be able to do better than they will: there has been this sort of 'social mobility escalator' that has existed for quite some time. That has fallen apart, when it comes to the technological change of the last five years in particular.

Combine that with the disruption that is currently happening due to the pandemic-induced recession. And combine that with all of the shifts that are being made in terms of a shift towards a more sustainable and greener economy. All of that together is disrupting all of those pathways that people previously had to be able to ensure that the next generation does better than them, that, in their lifetimes, they're able to do better than they had before.

On education and skills:

We don't quite have systems today that work. We have fairly archaic systems that were designed at the time of the first industrial revolution: education systems where schooling of a certain number of years was expected to carry you through to the end of your lifetime. That is simply no longer the case. And so we need one key sector or industry in the social economy which is a skilling-related sector that provides lifelong learning.

Have you read?

The 'jobs of the now'

According to the Cognizant Center for the Future of Work, new roles will emerge over the next decade and be central to businesses and employees everywhere. The firm's vice-president Robert Brown discussed the findings in a recent article for Agenda stressing that leaders should use such 'future of work' predictions and trends as a prism to help them plan ahead in their own organisations.

To get that headstart for your organisation, check out some new roles that Cognizant says will be emerging and reshaping markets:

Work from Home Facilitator

Fitness Commitment Counsellor

Smart Home Design Manager

XR Immersion Counsellor

Workplace Environment Architect

Algorithm Bias Auditor

Data Detective

Cyber Calamity Forecaster

Tidewater Architect

Human-Machine Teaming Manager

What percentage of your organization's workforce was, is, or is expected to be in each of the following categories?
Hybrid work - from home and the office Image: Statista

To learn more:

Jobs Reset Summit homepage:
https://www.weforum.org/events/the-jobs-reset-summit-2021

Podcasts mentioned in this episode:

Follow co-host Francine Lacqua on Twitter:

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

Also mentioned:

The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2021

Find all our podcasts here.

Join the World Economic Forum Podcast Club on Facebook.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:
Jobs and the Future of WorkEducation and Skills
Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

The green skills gap: Educational reform in favour of renewable energy is now urgent

Roman Vakulchuk

April 24, 2024

About Us

Events

Media

Partners & Members

  • Join Us

Language Editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

© 2024 World Economic Forum