Preparing students for jobs of the future

Preparing students for jobs of the future

The world of work is changing. A large percentage of children starting primary school today will be employed in jobs that don’t yet exist and many jobs which exist today will become automated by artificial intelligence in the future. McKinsey Global predicts that almost half of all workplace activities could be automated in the future.

So how can educators prepare students for jobs of the future?

1. Focus on soft skills. Soft skills are non-technical skills such as collaboration, creativity, critical-thinking, flexibility and time management. With an increase in technology in the workplace leading to an increased need for problem-solving and creativity skills, these soft skills will be highly valued by employers. We’ll see a shift in the way we work in the future with workers taking the more innovative and creative roles, while AI will take care of the more mundane day-to-day tasks.

2. Encourage digital literacy. We need to make sure all young people get a good grounding in literacy, numeracy and digital skills; all will be required in many more jobs and they will also help young people adapt to change. Today’s students are digital natives and are generally more comfortable adapting to new technologies. Across industries, digital skills are required in most roles and companies want to hire graduates that have knowledge of digital technologies and platforms. Digital literacy skills can also be linked with developing soft skills such as critical thinking and numeracy.

3. Encourage entrepreneurial and innovation skills. To make the most of future opportunities, students will need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset; this is useful whether they want to start their own business or not. The ability to adapt to changing jobs and new technologies will be crucial in future. Students must be able to communicate effectively, identify a problem and solve it on their own. As technology continues taking over more jobs, students could lose out if they can’t be creative and innovative. To help students build entrepreneurial skills try sharing examples of new and innovative business start-ups, and explaining why they are successful.

4. Use new and emerging technologies. AI is now very much a reality, running through many parts of everyday life and it will continue to play an increasingly important role in the future workplace. However, this isn’t a case of robots replacing humans; instead humans and machines will work alongside each other, to support and improve the way each works. Increasingly, AI is becoming a feature in schools with many educational software programs already uses AI – learning programs, games, and other systems.

5. Develop resilience. Arming students with a resilient attitude will mean they react to change with a growth mindset; giving them the confidence to adapt to new situations. Part of developing resilience is having a positive attitude towards failure; students need to learn from failure and focus on how to create a solution, not on always getting the answer right first time.

In summary, you can prepare your students for the jobs of the future by focusing on soft skills, teaching them the nature of change within the workforce and the impact of technology, and encouraging students to innovate and be creative.