The next decade could see growing demand for behavioral scientists, data analysts, upcycled clothing designers and even digital detox consultants.
Brexit, climate change, an economic slowdown and technology are among the factors that could have the greatest impact on jobs in the 2020s, the UK’s Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce said.
It looked at four possible workplace scenarios:
The Big Tech Economy: “A new machine age” where technology develops at a rapid pace, from self-driving cars to 3D printing, bringing cheaper goods, but rising unemployment.
Jobs: software developers, digital transformation consultants and technology public relations.
The Precision Economy: “A future of hypersurveillance” where technological progress is moderate, but a proliferation of sensors allows firms to create value by capturing and analyzing more information on objects, people and the environment.
Jobs: behavioral scientists, data analysts and online reputation managers.
The Exodus Economy: A crash on the scale of 2008 dries up funding for innovation and keeps the UK in a low-skilled, low-productivity and low-paid rut, and workers lose faith in capitalism.
Jobs: food cooperative workers, upcycled clothing designers and community energy managers.
The Empathy Economy: “A future of responsible stewardship” in which technology advances at a clip, but so too does public awareness of its dangers; automation is carefully managed in partnership with workers and unions; and disposable income flows into sectors such as education, care and entertainment.
Jobs: digital detox planners and personal public relations advisers.
Over the past 10 years, government austerity, the rise of e-commerce and an aging society have contributed to changes in employment, the report said.
Computer programmers, finance directors and van drivers are among the professions that saw the biggest growth.
National government administrators, bank clerks and retail workers were among those hardest hit.
The demise of the coal industry left the US’ Appalachian region in tatters, with lost jobs, spoiled water and countless kilometers of abandoned underground mines. Now entrepreneurs are eyeing the rural region with ambitious visions to rebuild its economy by converting old mines into solar power systems and data centers that could help fuel the increasing power demands of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. One such project is underway by a non-profit team calling itself Energy DELTA (Discovery, Education, Learning and Technology Accelerator) Lab, which is looking to develop energy sources on about 26,305 hectares of old coal land in
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
Netflix on Friday faced fierce criticism over its blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery. The streaming giant is already viewed as a pariah in some Hollywood circles, largely due to its reluctance to release content in theaters and its disruption of traditional industry practices. As Netflix emerged as the likely winning bidder for Warner Bros — the studio behind Casablanca, the Harry Potter movies and Friends — Hollywood’s elite launched an aggressive campaign against the acquisition. Titanic director James Cameron called the buyout a “disaster,” while a group of prominent producers are lobbying US Congress to oppose the deal,
Two Chinese chipmakers are attracting strong retail investor demand, buoyed by industry peer Moore Threads Technology Co’s (摩爾線程) stellar debut. The retail portion of MetaX Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co’s (上海沐曦) upcoming initial public offering (IPO) was 2,986 times oversubscribed on Friday, according to a filing. Meanwhile, Beijing Onmicro Electronics Co (北京昂瑞微), which makes radio frequency chips, was 2,899 times oversubscribed on Friday, its filing showed. The bids coincided with Moore Threads’ trading debut, which surged 425 percent on Friday after raising 8 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion) on bets that the company could emerge as a viable local competitor to Nvidia