High-value jobs – better news for women than men

Posted by Carolyne Burns | September - 14 - 2015 | 0 Comment
High-value jobs – better news for women than men

High-value jobs – better news for women than men

Be a people person AND a geek – and you will be sure to get the high-value jobs!

Imagine our surprise when we saw the recent headline: “Geeks will rule the workplace by 2030”.  Then we found this one: “The Best Jobs Now Require you to be a People Person” and  another:  “How the New Economy Hurts Men and Helps Women”.

At Expr3ss! we believe it will take a good balance of both – people skills and technology skills – for people of all ages to participate in the workplace of the future.  It’s better news for women than for men.

We are reading the arguments and the evidence every week.

Take this article by David Deming, an associate professor of economics at Harvard.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-best-jobs-now-require-you-to-be-a-people-person/

He argues that today’s high-skill, high-paying jobs – like consultants and managers – high-value jobs will increasingly require interpersonal skills. Yes, it is true that technology is allowing us to automate more technical jobs. But being able to communicate clearly and be an intrinsic team player will matter more than ever.

Deming even argues that women appear to be the ones capitalising on this shift to the ‘softer skills’!

Basically he argues that having the technical expertise will always ensure you’re in the market for a job – the Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) skills.

BUT, here’s the clincher… it is the social skills that will provide the crucial advantage for workers over their frequent competitor, technology. Computers don’t have empathy, they are not good at simulating human interaction and that’s where you’ll get ahead – by being a ‘people person’!

Australia’s leading social demographer, Bernard Salt, was behind the headline “Geeks will rule the workplace..” [1]

Again, he adds that it is not all about the geeks. According to his research, beauty and massage therapists won’t be far behind!

Says Bernard: “Doom and gloom speculation that robots will destroy up to 40 per cent of jobs, ignores the other side of the equation. In the last 15 years we have lost 303,000 jobs but we have created 3.2 million.”

His report for the NBN predicts that Australia will have an extra three million jobs 15 years from now. New technology, greater connectivity and unprecedented opportunities for entrepreneurialism will change how and where many people work.

Geoff Colvin, senior Editor-at-Large and columnist at Fortune, argues that women hold strong advantage over men in the new economy.  As technology transforms our world in new ways, value moves to skills of social interaction  [http://time.com/3984017/men-women-economy/]

Technology’s advance is a great opportunity for women!

At Expr3ss! we’re right behind those businesses who are looking for the right people that fit their roles and the culture of their workplace.

Brush up on your people interaction skills, people!

And while you’re at it, get those technology skills up to speed and it’s a surefire ticket to a high-value job!

Ch33rs!

 

[1] http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/social-demographer-bernard-salt-predicts-what-jobs-will-be-in-demand-in-2030/story-fnihsrf2-1227514333489?from=public_rss [subscription only, sorry!]