Future Job Insecurity

That may be true of computer operating systems and smartphones, where we often don’t system updates, but if technology eliminates your job, you’ll notice it plenty.

Do a web search for the terms, “future,” “jobs” and “eliminate,” and you’ll get many hits with lists about jobs that technology might do away with in the years ahead. Some might be expected, such as mail sorters and meter readers, but others are surprising and include air traffic controllers and even pilots.

It’s been said that there is no such thing as job security, but there is employment security. That means there will always be work, the trick is to make yourself capable of doing it.

A good start would be choosing a career that’s less likely to be eliminated by technology. These potentially include fields such as healthcare workers, software developers, specialized repair technicians and teachers.

With today’s employers desperate to find new workers, it’s a great time to consider a career change. Employers are easing prerequisites and more willing to provide on the job training for someone trying to switch over from another field. Logically, making a career change is more difficult when unemployment is high.

The first step in this process is making sure you actually need or want to switch careers.

Your current job might not be in danger of being automated, and you might enjoy what you do, just not where you’re doing it. Changing companies, not careers, might be a better move.

If you decide a career change is in order, start by making a detailed list of your skills and interests. Take a career assessment; many of them are offered online. Your results will generate a list of occupations where you’re more likely to achieve success and satisfaction.

While job satisfaction is important, you also have to keep earning potential in mind. If going into a new career at entry level means temporarily less pay, you’ll have to adjust your budget accordingly. Also, remember that you’re looking for something that’s more “automation resistant.” No sense jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Now that you have a list of new career possibilities, the next step is whittling them down. It may be a long list, but consider each possibility carefully and only then cross off those that aren’t appealing to you.

With that complete, you now have a much shorter list, with maybe five possibilities. These are the occupations to begin researching, again with an open mind.

Gather job descriptions for each of these career possibilities. Look at education requirements. Will you have to go back to school? If so, for how long? And how much will it cost? What are the advancement opportunities and earning potential?

Are there likely to be more of those jobs in the future, or fewer? The position of pacemaker technician is a good example of why this is important. These workers are relatively well-paid and do extremely important work, traveling around to clinics and doctors’ offices to adjust pacemakers when patients are having problems.

With an aging population, you would think that occupation is secure, but technology is advancing so rapidly that the industry will likely do much of that work remotely in the future, eliminating many of those positions.

After gathering all the information you can on your list of potential new careers, you can probably eliminate a few more. With only a few left, prioritize them, then take the one that best meets your needs. Put an action plan in place to prepare for it.

Talk to employers and workers in that field to find out what’s needed. It could involve going back to school or getting the necessary training some other way, such as an internship. Some of the skills you’ve picked up from previous jobs may also apply to the new career, so you may not have to start from scratch.

This leads us to the most difficult part of changing careers, making a commitment to land a job there. If you have to start at a lower level, be willing to do it, providing you can earn enough to still meet your monthly obligations.

If the career change requires formal training, you must have the discipline to obtain that training, but once you have it, you can start applying for jobs in your new field.