Digital transformation and the jobs of the future

The digital transformation will require a review of the roles of professionals and technologies in production systems. How these changes will transform occupations and the future of work is a topic yet to be discovered. According to recent reports on this topic, made available by entities such as the World Economic Forum, the OECD and the European Union, many of the jobs we know today may disappear, giving way to completely new ones, or will be completely changed. The good new is that with the transformation and the expected change in occupations, the future points to completely new paths, possibilities and professional competences.

The Workshop held with companies in the industrial sector representing the region of Aveiro on February 20, was a great opportunity to resume one of the concerns of the Labour Observatory: how will the digital transformation impact the jobs of the future?

Workshop participants were asked to identify the professions for which they anticipate an increase in demand, due to the digital transformation in their industries. This exercise was based on a list of 15 professions, presented in Graph 1, which are currently mentioned in several reports on digital transformation and the future of work and qualifications, as emerging professional areas, for which a great demand is being projected. 

Graph 1 - Professional areas of the future, in the context of the industry

Source: Professions identified in the WEF and OECD reports. Original data collected at the industry workshop (20/02/2020).

From the initial list of professional areas, 8 stand out, which in the perception of industry representatives in Aveiro who participated in the workshop, seem to be particularly important for the future of the region (Graph 1). Among these, 4 are highlighted that received the highest importance scores in the workshop, including AI and Machine Learning Specialists, Data Analysts and Scientists, User Experience and Human Machine Interaction and Information Security Experts and Analysts.

The most sought after professions in the future will require answers in terms of the qualification and requalification of professionals in the region, including actions in terms of technical skills, as well as the so-called transversal and behavioral skills.

References
World Economic Forum. (2018). The future of jobs report 2018. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
OECD (2019), OECD Employment Outlook 2019: The Future of Work, OECD Publishing, Paris.