"Future gazing"

"What is going to happen is no fault of any one person. The future is what it is. We can love it or hate it - but the future is what it is. People that educate themselves, prepare themselves are the ones who will have the best chances of a soft landing. Those who don't will find a different kind of landing." 

I have told this story before (a while back). In 1975, after I graduated from the Carlson School of Management at the "U", I was hired by a defense contractor in Eagan, MN. Never having worked in industry before, I was astonished to find out this company had a "futurist" on staff. Like, what the heck is a futurist? I found out a futurist worked closely with the development teams as well as the marketing staff. The futurist had the responsibility to guide the company so the company would nicely, and with good profit, intersect with the future.

I remember the first time I heard this man speak. It was an "all hands" meeting, held in the company auditorium. He went off script and started talking about where technology was going, other than our product mix. Out of the blue, he started talking about home computers. He said in the near future, just about every home will have at least one home computer. After he said that, I remembered a bit of snickering and laughter in the auditorium. Come on man! We had just come out of the slide rule days! But this futurist was right on the dime. And then some.

Why bring this up now? The other day in the local fish wrap newspaper, was an article about the trials and tribulations of the long term unemployed in this state. How tough it will be to find a new job. Many of the unemployed might be waiting for something to "happen". If so, that will be a bad move. To increase one's chances of finding any kind of sustainable employment from 2026 on, one must look around with different eyes. In other words, do your homework, and find out where the best opportunities are for a career - not just a job.

The good old unskilled jobs which many have been able to fall back on in previous years, will soon disappear. Some earlier than others. Even tech jobs like working on a help desk will soon be automated. Hate talking to a "bot" on the phone? Better get used to it. People to people chats for tech help will soon be gone for good. But what kind of jobs will be safe? Jobs which cannot be done by technology. Like plumbers. Electricians. Painters. But be aware - any job which can be automated - will be automated. Even in the medical field, technology will creep into the workforce.

Where does that leave us as a country? As a world? We need to face facts that not everybody who wants a job will find one. Some will be very short term, if any. The people who are skilled enough to find work in this brave new world, will find work because they are nimble and motivated. With the long term unemployed, fingers will be pointed, and blame will be assigned. But that will all be for naught.

What is going to happen is no fault of any one person. No one political party. The future is what it is. We can love it or hate it - but the future is what it is. People that educate themselves, prepare themselves are the ones who will have the best chances of a soft landing. Those who don't will find a different kind of landing.