By now, you’ve probably heard the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ mentioned in the media, among your circle of friends, or in the workplace.
A Forbes magazine article probably said it best when it explained that, “The First Industrial Revolution was characterised by steam and water; the Second Industrial Revolution was the introduction of electricity to mass produce things; the Third is characterised by the Internet, communication technologies, and the digitalisation of everything; and the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the concept of blurring the real world with the technological world.”
However, if you don’t quite understand what it’s all about, don’t worry too much about it, as it’s more important for you to find out if you’re well prepared to succeed in this new era we’re about to live in.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution will create new jobs that don’t currently exist or are not considered common in our state of Sarawak, so how are we supposed to prepare for it?
As a rough guide, the World Economic Forum (WEF) report ‘The Future of Jobs’ has listed the ‘Top 10 Skills’ you will need in 2020, in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
1. Complex Problem Solving Skills
2. Critical Thinking
3. Creativity
4. People Management
5. Coordinating with Others
6. Emotional Intelligence
7. Judgment and Decision Making
8. Service Orientation
9. Negotiation
10. Cognitive Flexibility
What do these skills have in common? They are skills that computer algorithms and robots cannot do as well as humans (at least, for now).
Of course skills such as computer programming and data management will be equally as important but as more jobs are digitised and taken over by robots, your role will be more about overseeing the tasks being done, and it also means being able to adapt to changing roles and becoming multi-disciplined.
The WEF believes that by the year 2020, more than a third of the skills considered important in today’s workforce would have changed, as the Fourth Industrial Revolution would have brought advanced robotics and autonomous transport, artificial intelligence and machine learning, advanced materials, biotechnology and genomics.
However, if you concentrate on building the skills listed above, you will be greatly improving your chances of excelling in this new exciting era.
This is a weekly column by SarawakYES! – an initiative driven by Faradale Media-M Sdn Bhd and supported by Angkatan Zaman Mansang (AZAM) Sarawak – to provide advice and stories on the topics of education and careers to support Sarawakians seeking to achieve their dreams. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
This article first appeared on The Borneo Post, visit this link: http://bit.ly/2khYjBK
