What are the professions of the future in Slovakia and which professions are most threatened by automation?

Author: Zuzana Kocáková

Digitization

8 reading minutes

As technology evolves, any profession of the future is likely to be closely linked to technological development and digital transformation, requiring innovative skills and continuous learning for the future. To what extent is it possible to replace human labour and which professions have a secure future?

Some assume that with the automation of production, we are moving into an age when people will have to learn to work independently, to use their potential that sets them apart from the machine, and to be able to sell it. This is also what the criteria for the professions of the future will probably look like. We’ve listed the areas that should not be threatened by automation, will bring new job offers in the future and it’s worth focusing on them.

In 2018, PwC analysed 200,000 jobs in 29 countries to see what challenges automation will bring. The study predicted that by 2020, technology will replace three percent of jobs, and in another ten years, that number should rise to 30 percent. Slovakia ranked worst among the surveyed countries. Our country is one of the most industrialized countries on the old continent. We have earned the nickname “the assembly workshop of Europe”.

Countries such as Slovenia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Italy ranked in the study just behind Slovakia. In the middle category were countries such as the UK, France and the United States, whose economies are mainly service-oriented. The countries least at risk were South Korea, Finland and Greece, where the industry is fragmented and not predominantly focused on one area. In Slovakia, however, the economy is built mainly on industries with a high risk of automation. One example is car companies, which are also the reason why more than a third of the population works in industry. Many professions in Slovakia may thus be at risk.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Many experts call the situation Revolution 4.0. It was preceded by historical milestones such as the invention of the steam engine, the invention of electricity, the development of computers and the internet. Gradually our society shifted from agriculture to industry and later to services. Future technologies such as automation, digitalization and robotics are set to follow. However, it is not clear what kind of place will the human find in this, and it may also affect the shape of future job offers.

Just as generations before us couldn’t imagine what a Java developer, a social network administrator or an actuary in IT could do, today we can’t imagine what new jobs the next generation will be doing.

However, self-service checkouts are already gradually replacing shop assistants, car drivers are being replaced by autonomous cars, bankers by online banking, shop assistants by e-shops, postmen by drones and receptionists by robots. Machines are also likely to completely replace people in professions that are hazardous to their health or that require a high degree of concentration. Routine occupations such as administration, legal advice and accounting are also most at risk. Although technology seems to be pushing us out of our jobs, we still spend eight hours a day there. In some professions, man is still irreplaceable.

Future professions and production automation

In the context of increasing digitization and automation, the questions of how and where to look for work and where to find employment are gaining importance in today’s era characterized by dynamic changes in the labour market. Some of the least threatened jobs of the future, according to the study, include healthcare, education and social services, where face-to-face contact is required. This is still required today in various leadership positions or in the sales and implementation of customer service.

Thanks to the development of new technologies and media, the jobs of the future in the labour market are also those that focus on data processing and transmission. Insurance is also a promising area, as people seek certainty in an ever-changing world.

In the same way, human work is also essential in the case of software development management – the coordination of the development process, where it is necessary to focus on the fixing of bugs, which is supervised by, for example, an IT test manager. With the increasing risk of cyber-attacks, security analysts also have a secure future. So it seems that robotics and cybernetics will be among the top fields and professions of the future. Think about how the basics of robotics could give you useful knowledge in this field.

The report goes on to say that new technologies can also create millions of new jobs, so it is important to prepare for the retraining of employees. It should involve both the private and the public sector, also because the work of robots cannot yet be taxed. Moreover, automation of production processes could solve the problem of an ageing population.

The question therefore remains whether robots will replace our work or create the space to be educated in new industries. In the case of Slovakia, which dominates the first ranks of the impact of automation, it is therefore important in the long term that the industry starts to focus on education and development in addition to production. Robotization in Slovakia will probably soon be nothing exceptional.

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What are the professions of the future in Slovakia and which professions are most threatened by automation?

Zuzana Kocáková

At msg life Slovakia I take care of the company culture, events and I am part of the marketing team. I like a job where I can be creative and contribute to making my colleagues at msg feel good. I regularly prepare for you not only news and interesting things from the world of information technology and insurance, but also from behind the scenes events at msg life Slovakia.