DM
New York -By 2040, cabs will be driven by Google robots, shops will become showrooms for online outlets and call centres will be staffed by intelligent droids.
That’s the scenario depicted in recent research which suggests robots could be taking over our lives and jobs in less than 30 years. The competition for work caused by a rise in the robots population will see us heading to surgeons for ‘additional processing power for our brains’, they claim.
We may also be requesting bionic implants for our hands that will make us able to perform tasks as fast as any machine. Futurologists, commissioned by global job search website xpatjobs.com, say workers will have less job security and will work more unsociable hours.
Those who take these risks and innovate with their own bodies will be the biggest earners in 2040, they claim. However, the study added that workers may be left with poor eyesight, smaller organs, and constantly-furrowed brows as they struggle to keep up to life in the 21st century.
Experts expect the current 37.4 hour working week to increase by a third to 50.5 hours. And it means people will be so busy working, we will only find time for romance twice a month - down from the current five. The gloomy study predicts we will work several ‘micro jobs’ from a desk in our bedroom, and across different time zones. That would spell the end of the commute, drinks after work with colleagues, the office Christmas party, and the excuse ‘I’m just working late, dear’. Futurologists believe many of us will become ‘jack-of-all-trades’, working across multiple timezones - reflecting the growing dominance of China.
A worker may take care of customer service for a New York employer, chase accounts for a Singapore-based boss and come up with marketing ideas for a brand in Delhi. The job listings in 2040 will contain roles unrecognisable today as technology develops at an even faster pace, the study claims. Rhys Maddocks, director of XPat Jobs, said: ‘People will be surprised how fast things will change.
‘Technology and computers have only really touched the work market so far. ‘That and the globalisation of all work will revolutionise the way we think of work in the next 25 years. ‘But that is not to say work will simply go away. ‘There will always be entrepreneurial thinking that sees a use of real human interaction and jobs that require ideas, complex problem-solving and the caring touch can’t be partly of wholly replaced by machines.’
Looking at shifts they are already seeing in the labour market, XPat Jobs have come up with the careers today’s children should be looking to study for if they want a job in 25 years. Web security, software, robotics and even human surgical enhancement will all be key areas. Caring for an ageing population will be a growth area and builders will not be out of work either, as an ever-growing population will need housing.
Derek Woodgate, from global futures-based consultancy The Futures Lab, said: ‘The main influences on the future of work will be technological, but these innovations will change the kind of work we do and how we interact. ‘Workplaces will become smaller and more flexible as we work collaboratively across the world - often from home - on-screen or even holographically.