Careers and Employment: A Look to the Future

Careers and Employment: A Look to the Future 

By Mike Gilbert, Careers Advisor, Entrust

National Careers Week, which is now underway, celebrates careers guidance and free resources in education across the UK. The students who are preparing to leave education must contend with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the jobs market, and now also the devastating war in Ukraine. The future is uncertain, but at Entrust we’re committed to improving the life chances of young people and can still see a wide variety of opportunities. Here are our predictions for job roles of the future.

Technology will lead the way

When there is so much insecurity and challenge in the world, it can often hasten the speed of innovation for many in solving and adapting to current issues. We are already seeing huge changes in technology, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) that are influencing roles such as engineers, machine learning experts, cyber-security penetration testers, blockchain experts, AI developers, analysts and data protection officers. 

Traditional industries will continue to innovate

Job roles are created and develop because they prove vital to our economy and culture.  That’s why roles within agriculture, business and finance, construction, education, health and care, IT, manufacturing, science engineering and technology, plus transport and logistics will remain key with lots of innovation.

Gaming will continue to grow

The UK games industry is flourishing and needs an ever-increasing number of skilled employees to ensure it can continue to grow and succeed. In 2018, video game sales reached a record £3.8bn, an increase of 9.1% on the previous year, representing more than half of the total entertainment retail market. Sales of hardware grew by more than 27% and virtual reality by 23%.

Education roles will be vital to train the workforce of the future

The future workforce will need a wide knowledge base as well as specialist skills. The art of candidate preparation in a competitive marketplace will always value the transferable skills developed through key communication, social science and humanities subjects such as English language, history, philosophy, psychology and related subjects.  Roles within education and other public sector jobs stack positively in the face of automation in roles and responsibilities where interpersonal skills still reign supreme.

Roles for a ‘smarter’ and greener society

Our increasingly smart and IT-complex homes will need electrical engineers and our smart cities will need road systems that are designed by qualified civil engineers with internet connectivity covered by telecommunications and software specialists.

As the UK pursues net-zero, engineering will play a pivotal role in helping to develop and implement strategies focusing on renewables and environmentally sustainable processes.

We will continue to need support to live and work longer

As our life spans  continue to extend, hands-on roles aligned with doctors, nurses and physiotherapists will be vital to look after us. Counsellors will help us to continue to learn, work effectively and stay culturally aware – commonly into our eighth and nineth decades. There will be a consistent role for care workers who will fit and process our new wearable technology to monitor heart rates, blood-glucose levels and review our sleep patterns. 

Staying fit will continue to be important so we may need more personal trainers, sports therapists and nutritionists to support this.

The current conflict in Ukraine reminds us that military policing, fire, prisons and ambulance services will remain vitally important  – undoubtable teamed with evermore technologically advanced kit and supporting materials.

For students entering the workplace, remaining flexible with a positive attitude towards upskilling and lifelong learning will be central to a long productive working life. 

To help your students move into the future of work with ease and understanding take a look at how we can help with your careers strategy here.

 By Mike Gilbert, Careers Advisor, Entrust