Jobs of the Future

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by Ed Cole41 views·Updated Apr 1, 2021
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  1. Okay. Hi, My name is Ed and I work as
  2. a project manager.
  3. So what does that mean?
  4. Well, when people have projects that they need to do
  5. and it might be designing a new road or perhaps
  6. some flood defences, a project manager helps ensure the project
  7. is done on time to the right standard and within
  8. budget. So it's mostly about working with lots of other
  9. people and helping them to do their job.
  10. Well, what subjects did I enjoy at school?
  11. Well, at school, I liked most subjects, but I especially
  12. liked geography and science.
  13. And when I was at school, there were several different
  14. jobs that I considered doing.
  15. For example, at one point I wanted to be a
  16. meteorologist. That's someone who stood as the weather.
  17. And I also thought about becoming a lawyer.
  18. Yeah, but when I went to university, I studied geology,
  19. and that's all about rocks.
  20. Looking at how our planet has evolved over millions of
  21. years and how things like volcanoes and earthquakes continue to
  22. shape our world today.
  23. After university, I chose to become a civil engineer.
  24. Civil engineering is about designing and building a lot of
  25. the things that we take for granted in our life,
  26. such as roads and railways.
  27. I'm protecting houses at risk of flooding.
  28. So in my career I've been involved in new projects
  29. that have helped to make life better for millions of
  30. people. So what does a typical day look like for
  31. me? Well, at the moment I'm working from home because
  32. of coronavirus.
  33. So a typical day for me is partly spent on
  34. video calls with lots of different people from around the
  35. world and also working at my desk doing things like
  36. writing reports.
  37. But normally I would I would be in an office
  38. so I'd spend a lot of time meeting people and
  39. perhaps giving presentations and providing training.
  40. And the thing that I really enjoy about my work
  41. is that I get to meet and help so many
  42. amazing people who have lots and lots of different skills.
  43. So, for example, I work with engineers who design things
  44. with environmental specialists who might be experts on climate change,
  45. for example, and with Ecologists who might be experts on
  46. bats or reptiles or birds.
  47. And ultimately we're helping to build things that make life
  48. better for our country and for millions of people.
  49. Yeah, since I've started working, I've seen lots of change
  50. in the workplace, and one of the big changes has
  51. been with computers and mobile phones.
  52. So when I started, almost no one had a mobile
  53. phone and there was one computer in the whole office
  54. between everybody.
  55. Now almost everybody has a mobile and a computer at
  56. work. Another thing that has changed is that at work
  57. now, everyone is much more aware of mental health issues
  58. and of diversity, making sure, for example, that men and
  59. women get the same opportunities and are treated in the
  60. same way.
  61. So that's been a really good change.
  62. So looking ahead to the future, one of the things
  63. that I think will change is I think it would
  64. be much more use of virtual reality.
  65. So over the past year or two, video conferences have
  66. been a big new development.
  67. Lots of us using things like Zoom and Microsoft teams.
  68. But I think over the next few years virtual reality
  69. will mean we can meet and work with people all
  70. over the world in a whole new way, making it
  71. seem, for example, that were in the same room as
  72. someone, and that will make it much easier to work
  73. with someone rather than perhaps sitting staring at a screen
  74. as we do now.
  75. And I also imagine some of those sorts of changes
  76. will start to come into school life, too.
  77. So what jobs might be in the future that don't
  78. exist now?
  79. Well, I think one area where there will be a
  80. lot more jobs is regarding climate change, so climate change
  81. is going to continue to be a really big issue
  82. for decades to come.
  83. So I think there'll be lots of jobs around renewable
  84. energy, carbon reduction and that sort of thing.
  85. What skills will people need for the future?
  86. Well, one set of skills that will always be useful
  87. is people and communication skills.
  88. So being able to work well with all sorts of
  89. different people to be able to clearly share your ideas
  90. with them and understand their ideas.
  91. And I think flexibility will be really important, too.
  92. The workplace is changing at a really fast pace, with
  93. new technologies, new ways of doing things and new ideas,
  94. and that speed of change is going to increase.
  95. So being able to adapt and being willing to try
  96. new things I think will be really important in the
  97. future workplace