B1-25 · Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet

Jobs That Don't Exist Yet

Twenty years ago, nobody worked as a social media manager, a drone pilot or an app developer. Today, these are normal jobs. So what will the job market look like when today's teenagers finish school? Last week, our class talked to Ms. Rachel Gomez, a career counselor, and here is what we learned.

What is changing? Ms. Gomez asked us how many of our parents used artificial intelligence at work. About half of us raised our hands. "Ten years ago, nobody would have raised a hand," she said. According to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, about 170 million new jobs will be created around the world by 2030, while about 92 million will disappear. The jobs that are growing fastest are connected to technology: big data specialists, AI and machine learning experts, and software developers. But a lot of new jobs will also appear in areas where people work with people, such as nursing and care for the elderly. On the other hand, jobs like cashier, bank clerk and data entry clerk are slowly disappearing, because machines can do them faster.

A famous claim. You may have heard that "65 percent of children who start school today will work in jobs that don't exist yet." Ms. Gomez told us not to believe everything we read. "That number appears in many articles and speeches," she explained, "but researchers have tried to find where it comes from, and nobody has found any real study behind it." Many jobs will change, she said, but plumbers, teachers and doctors will still be needed.

So what should we learn? Tyler asked her which subject was the most important. She answered that no single subject was enough. Employers say that the most important skills are analytical thinking, creativity, flexibility and the ability to keep learning all your life. "You will probably change jobs several times," she said. "So learn how to learn." She also told us to practice English every day, because in many companies it is the language of work.

Start now. In the USA, teenagers can legally work from the age of fourteen, with limits on hours. Many of us have summer jobs as lifeguards, camp counselors or babysitters. Ms. Gomez asked us to write down three things we had learned from our first jobs. My list: be on time, ask when you don't understand, and never stop being curious.

Jake Miller, 10th grade