A world without jobs?

What would you like to be when you grow up?  I recently asked a group of third to fifth formers this question at their school’s career day.  Every student responding did so in terms of jobs that presently exist. 

The significance of this is that I had been asked to talk to them about “dejobbing”, and my objective was to prepare them for a possible world, ten to twenty years from now, without jobs - at least, as we know them today. The nature of work is changing and the concept of the “job” itself may someday become obsolete.  As the word implies, “dejobbing” means the removal of jobs from the workplace.  The main driver of these changes is technology.

Technology is rapidly turning all work into knowledge work and transforming the way we do work.  Organizations in the future — as some are already doing — will operate around projects and assignments rather than well-defined tasks and jobs.  Individ-ual workers and teams will work on the projects and then disband or move on to other projects. Many of today’s jobs will become obsolete in the future, in the same way as many of yesterday’s jobs no longer exist.  And many of the jobs that will exist in the future have not been created as yet.  Perhaps, have not even been thought of as yet.  But what will be most striking about the future world of work may be the absence of “the job” as we know it. 

In the rapidly approaching future, organizations will not necessarily offer you a “job” but may provide work to be done.  In fact, you may not be employed with any one organization, but with several organizations over time or at the same time.  You may not work for an organization at all but for yourself.  You may be “the organization” - a business of one, “You & Company”, as one author puts it.

In the future, you will not necessarily have to go to work.  The work will come to you.  You may not work from Monday to Friday, 8.00:4.00.  You will work anytime and anywhere.  Work will be whenever and wherever you choose to do it. True employment security will come not from getting a job but from being able to work.  Not from “employment” but from “employability” — being continuously able to be employed.  This, in turn will come from continuous learning.   This learning will not necessarily take place in a classroom.

This learning will come from a willingness to experience new things, an openness to new experiences and ideas.  It’s an attitude to knowledge rather than the knowledge itself.  Rapid and continuous change means rapid and continuous skills obsolescence. That means that, in ten years time, most of what we are learning today will no longer be relevant!  We have to be constantly relearning, retooling, reskilling, reinventing ourselves.

So how do you prepare for a world without jobs?  The first step is to understand yourself: what one author calls your “data”: your desires, abilities, temperament and assets.  Your data will tell prospective employers more about who you really are and what value you can really add to the organization.  What is your data?

Desires:  Desires are what you are willing to work toward achieving, rather than just your wishes.  As the saying goes, find something you enjoy doing and you will never have to work a day in your life!  That is, if you can work at something you like doing, it won’t seem like work.

Abilities:  What do you do well?  What talents do you have?  We all have abilities.  We all have talents.  You can use those talents in a jobless workplace were organizations will not necessarily have a job to fit you into, but may be able to use your talents and abilities to help them achieve their goals.

Temperament:  Another word for temperament is “personality” — what makes you the kind of person you are.  Not all temperaments suit all kinds of work.  You should try to find work that suits your temperament or personality.

Assets: what do you have that can add value to an organization or employer?  Education, qualifications, experience, achievements, hobbies, etc. — the kinds of things you put in a resume.

Once you have studied yourself and your data, you can start putting You & Company to work.  The important point is to be proactive, to take charge of your life and career and to start preparing now for a world without jobs.

Dr. Charles is a Director of Quality Consultants Ltd.

The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Guardian Life. You are invited to send your comments to guardianlife@ghl.co.tt