"Why don't you become a plumber?" is not the career advice I'd ever imagine giving to my children. Yet it's exactly what trend-watcher Arnold Brown, chairman of the trends consulting firm Weiner Edrich Brown, advised when I saw him recently. The basic issue of the economy, he explained, is unemployment. Indicators show that we are seeing a fundamental shift in unemployment. The central issue: Othersourcing -- jobs moving from humans to robots and software programs. Technology is replacing human brains, not just muscle. Even many intellectual jobs will be taken over by computers. It is already happening. Examples: Administration and evaluation of tests for corporate Human Resources departments... therapy for depression and anxiety... currency trading and high-volume stock "flash" trading... routing of shipments by rail, truck, ship and plane (for example, how FedEx schedules its drivers)... evaluation of potential professional athletes. With more jobs moving to non-humans, the best careers of the future could be those that require skilled hands. As Arnold said, there will always be a need for plumbers and electricians. With unemployment near 10%, many people are rethinking their career strategies even if it includes retraining.
Are you or your friends and family rethinking careers? If so, what are you/they moving toward? I'm interested to know...
Nov 4, 2009 at 6:33 AM One might also consider ele. & eletronic mechanical techs as well as millwrights with strong ele. background these are the people who will be up gradeing and replaceing the machinery that takes the place of humans in industry. Some one has to maintain and repair this equipment as well.
Nov 4, 2009 at 7:50 AM Consider for a moment the motives of colleges & universities they provide an education for a profit, but dose that education provide greater earnings for the graduating student? You wouldn't believe the number of people I work with in the trades and crafts that have a college degree higher than a bacholors. Why? Many thinking cap jobs are being replaced by advanced technology as well. If one considers the amount of debt that a college graduate has entering the work force for the fist time in the form of student loans and add to that a first mortgage, car, insurance and starting a family not much of the paycheck is left for savings. Don't get me wrong I am not saying higher education is bad I just believe that we have developed a mind set in this country that sedintary use your mind jobs are the only path to a comfortable income. All one needs to do is look at the condition of much of our work force. obesity and stress related desease is at an all time high. Jobs that work the body as well as the mind just might be the better way to go. If you think one dosn't use the mind to construct and or repair think again. Would you really want to walk into a high rise designed and built by a Banker or lawyer?
Nov 4, 2009 at 9:57 AM Obtain computer skills - in the same thinking as Greg above, programs are written by humans, and servers, when down, still need humans to bring them back up!
Nov 4, 2009 at 11:29 PM That's exactly what I asked myself in 1975! And when I considered that people wouldn't soon get over the need to s**t, it wasn't seasonal or faddish. Very few people wanted to stand knee deep in the water, including me, but when I considered the payscale I got over that. I spent 6 years getting in the best shape of my life. I hold my journeyman's lisense which I will always hold, then switched to electronics. I have my BS in electronics and still use my plumbing info every week as a happy home owner. It was a very quick 6 years and I still profit from it. Think about it!
Nov 5, 2009 at 6:41 AM And those computer programmers still have to sit down.....many times a day, to, eliminate. And often times those men do their thinking, sitting on the throne.
Talk about job security!! And especially when no one wants to do it.. HELLO!! chaching. Can you smell entrepemanuerr!!
signed, a female business owner in Nashville.
Nov 5, 2009 at 7:42 AM I am a guidance counselor. Yesterday I reviewed vocational assessment results with a young man, who has a growing family. Today I sent him the link to this blog, because he is more passionate about the Trades than academia. This should help him with his decision on what to pursue in a career. The local state university offers an Associates program in Electronics Automation Repair, i.e. robotics. With the computerized machinery in every facet of workforce today, they need both brawn and brain to be brought back on line when down. Today's job seeker would be well advised to have both. Look around, when the construction trades went south with the economy, and those workers lost their jobs, building maintenance workers kept their jobs.
Nov 5, 2009 at 9:33 AM Computer skills?
Yeah, and the people writing the code and running the servers increasingly live and work in India. Just ask me - a 20 year computer veteran- or any of my unemployed friends.
Mary Lee Says:
Nov 4, 2009 at 9:57 AM
Obtain computer skills - in the same thinking as Greg above, programs are written by humans, and servers, when down, still need humans to bring them back up!
Nov 5, 2009 at 12:50 PM Service for computerized machines in the U.S. cannot be outsourced, though Marsha's comment is understandable.
Nov 8, 2009 at 6:52 AM Whatever choice a young person makes, it is wise to make that choice as soon as possible. Many young people wait waste those after school years drifting, never learning responsibility or wanting a career. Of course, our parents are to blame sometimes for continually giving handouts, me included. Hopefully, for those of you who believe in prayer, sometimes that will motivate and inspire a person to seek out the right job. Computers cannot feel or be compasionate to another human, that is where we come in. My husband is a high-level component repair technician. Flat panels, touch screens etc. , however he started his training at an early age. Now he is one in six in the nation with his ability. I urge young people to take time to think about what they want to do with their life, and hopefully not wait too long.