written by Diana Clement reprinted from Seek Learning

The world is changing and with it comes exciting new opportunities for work. In fact, many of us will find ourselves working in newly created industries and roles in the next decade or two.

Australian business futurist, Morris Miselowski predicts that boring tasks will be automated increasingly, freeing workers to take on more stimulating jobs and that this is something to embrace – not to be scared of. Work might become more stimulating for many of us in the future but we’ll need to upskill to take on the new challenges.

Miselowski spends his working life immersed in the future and has given SEEK Learning an insight into the workplace of the future.

Future job fact 1: In the future, more of us could be freelancing or contracting for multiple employers. “We need to get away from the notion of a particular skill,” says Miselowski, who also predicts that we will have six careers and 14 job changes in our lives.

Future job fact 2: Disruptive innovations will continue to change the way existing industries operate, following in the footsteps of companies such as Amazon, Uber and Airbnb. This same trend will be seen in the workspace, where technology will make work more transactional. Workers who embrace these changes and become more entrepreneurial may find themselves freed from the 9-to-5 grind.

“We will be seeing many jobs not being done Monday to Friday,” says Miselowski, particularly as businesses begin to employ more freelancers for one-off jobs. Service roles will increase as our growing need for instant gratification means we’ll be employing people to do one-off tasks for us through websites such as AirTasker.com.

Future job fact 3: Soft skills will rule. As explained by Miselowski: “Hard skills will be something we will gain as we need them, however soft skills such as empathy will allow us to be flexible.” Work on those interpersonal skills by studying management, organisational behaviour, or human resources, and paying attention to how you interact with those around you.

Future job fact 4: Professional success will require a flexible attitude to training. Start now, and keep up with changes in your industry. Read up, network, attend conferences and workshops, and look for opportunities to expand your skill set whenever possible.

Future job fact 5: Unsurprisingly, Australian jobs will be more technology dependent. We will all need to keep our computer and communications skills up-to-date by keeping tabs on emerging technologies, and challenging ourselves with short courses and workshops.

Future job fact 6: As computers relieve us of the dull repetitive jobs, we’ll be freed to do much more interesting work. Actually, we’re already starting to see these changes occur. One of Miselowski’s insights relates to nursing where, in the past, a nurse was needed to do patient monitoring. These days a machine can monitor a patient’s vital signs, which frees nurses for more specialised roles. It’s what we’ll see more of in the future: “Technology answering the questions and humans questioning the answers,” says Miselowski. “That is the litmus test of whether a job or a skill is going to stand up long term.”

That’s 2020. If you’re intrigued to know what we’ll be doing in 2050, here are some of Miselowski’s predictions for future jobs:

Body part maker: Using 3D printers to make replacement lungs, hearts, livers, kidneys, corneas and more.

Transhumanist designer: HR role that involves controlling the organisation’s robots.

Domestic robot repairer: The person who’ll repair your home robot when it breaks down.

Gene programmer: Responsibilities include programming our genes to cure and prevent disease.