2.2 Advances in technology

Over the last decade, we’ve seen the introduction of social media, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI), and for many individuals, this has had a significant impact on the work they do.

Figure 4

Show description|Hide description

This decorative image shows a robotic hand and a human hand reaching out, and touching fingers (much like in the film E.T., or the painting The Creation of Adam).

Figure 4

A 2019 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimated that ‘14% of existing jobs could disappear as a result of automation in the next 15-20 years, and another 32% are likely to change radically as individual tasks are automated’ (OECD, 2019).

More positively, a report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD, 2020) suggests that the positive impact of technology – through job enrichment and new professional development opportunities – outweighs the negative. In fact, their survey showed that 35% of employers that had introduced AI and automation in the last five years saw more jobs as a result.

All this potential uncertainty can be unsettling, and your personal and career resilience will play a key role in allowing you to view this change as opportunity. Training could be a very relevant response to this particular challenge.