Top Job 2030: Spare Limb Maker?
Forget the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker: in 20 years some of the most popular jobs could include space pilot and body-part maker, according to a report.
The report, The Shape of Jobs to Come, predicts advances in science and technology that could change many of today's careers. The UK government wanted to encourage understanding of science so they employed a research company to compile a list of future jobs. The company asked a number of "futurists and future thinkers" to predict science and technology developments before suggesting specific jobs. The result was a list of 20 jobs for the study.
Roles in medicine and farming are expected to rely much more on the use of computers, and careers in social work are predicted to expand. Some of the most exciting changes will come in medicine. The study predicts that the creation of new limbs will become a reality and body-part makers will be in demand.
Rohit Talwar, chief executive of the research company, predicts that generating extra limbs will be important in sport. "If you’re spending $100m on a footballer and for $3m you can have a couple of spare legs, then you're going to do it," he said.
Climate change and the rise of space tourism were some of the trends considered by the researchers. These could lead to jobs as climate change specialists or space pilots. However, the study says that the career for life will become a thing of the past. "Students coming out of university now could easily have eight to ten jobs in their lifetime, across five different careers," said Talwar.
Talwar also said that schools should concentrate on scientific subjects and improving all-round skills. "If I was a parent today the key thing I would want to make sure is that my kids were well versed in science and technology and were learning things like problem solving."
Questions:
1) Who paid for the report?
2) How many jobs were on the list?
3) What will extra limbs be important in?
4) How many jobs might people have in their lifetime?
5) What subjects should children study?
