Be Ready. The Future Is Now!: 14 Steps to Prepare Yourself Mentally, Financially & Professionally

By Rachel Smith

What will you do if your job is automated?
Do you have a plan for your future?
Are you ready and prepared for the future?

If you answered ‘No’ or ‘I don’t know’ to any of these questions, this book is for you.
Right now, we’re told that almost half of all jobs will be able to be fully automated in the next few years. Technology is disrupting every industry. Australia, America and the UK have rising rates of underemployment and unemployment. Add to that economic slowdown, soft financial conditions and the rising cost of living, and it’s easy to see why all industries are looking for cheaper alternatives, in the form of namely, technology and automation. Millions of people could lose their jobs and be made redundant.
In this ground-breaking and entertaining book packed with information, research, practical exercises and true stories, Rachel shows you how to apply the 14 steps to prepare yourself. This is a book that you can use, not just read and agree with.
The ultimate result of implementing the 14 steps is that you will be mentally, financially and professionally ready and prepared for our new world of technology and automation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9780995357266

Book preview

it!

PART 1:

GLOBAL TRENDS

OUR WORLD IS CHANGING

WHEN I WAS GROWING UP…

When I was growing up, almost all the dads worked at one of the two local factories. Back then people had a ‘job for life’.

The world has changed. Right now, in 2016, many people I know have short-term, temporary or performance-based employment contracts. Job uncertainty is a fact of life.

NO MORE JOBS FOR LIFE

The expectation of having a job for life no longer exists for more than two-thirds of Australian workers, across all age groups. A report by Deloitte Access Economics called The Future of Work: how can we adapt to survive and thrive? found that 60 per cent of the people surveyed expected to change roles or industries in the next ten years.

    67 per cent expected that within fifteen years their existing job will no longer exist, or will require a new skill set.

    Almost one-third of employees said that changes in technology are most likely to drive job change.

    Two in five said they were uncertain or nervous about their employment future, but most felt positive or excited about the change in their careers.

‘A job for life just doesn’t have a place in our modern society,’ declared Lee White, Chief Executive Officer of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, who commissioned the report.

ARE WE THE LAST GENERATION TO NEED AN OFFICE?

Years ago, offices had typing pools; now, people have virtual assistants.

A 2013 report titled Activity Based Working by Jones Lang LaSalle showed that within most organisations, staff desks are utilised just 60 per cent of the time, with people spending the other 40 per cent in collaboration spaces or out with clients. In this environment people don’t necessarily need a desk to call their own, and companies are benefiting from needing less office space. The ‘office’ of the future could be your home, your local coffee shop or your local public park.

VIRTUAL IS A REALITY

Increasingly, service providers such as travel agents, bookkeepers, accountants and even lawyers are operating online. Many offer all their advice, skills and services in this way. Technology enhances an accountant or lawyer’s ability to be ‘virtual’ and in more than one place at once, which is particularly important as the market globalises.

TECHNOLOGY

Twenty years ago, the World Wide Web was born. Nine years ago most people had barely heard of smartphones and tablets—and now we can’t live without them. Five years ago, the average household had ten internet-capable devices.

Now 88 per cent of us are active internet users, 58 per cent are active social-media users and 54 per cent are active mobile social users. Australia has more mobile connections than people—30.6 million mobile phone connections against 24.1 million people. Research suggests that within five years the average home will have fifty internet devices. And this technological revolution is replacing workers with computers.

Increased access to mobile phones and smart phones in the developing world will give people access to world-class education. And soon medical devices on our phones will be able to take blood samples and scans—meaning that in a few years, everyone will also have access to world-class healthcare via technology.

AUTOMATED VEHICLES

Autonomous and driverless vehicles are already here! In the next couple of years, self-driving cars will appear for the public, and we may not need to worry about car parking, car maintenance, buying fuel or paying for car insurance. A driverless electric bus is set to be trialled in Perth, Western Australia, in 2016. An average-sized medium-density city like Brisbane or Perth would have around 2,500 public transport buses; driverless buses would lead to around 7,000 former bus drivers seeking new employment.

3D PRINTING

A Chinese design and engineering company has already 3D-printed a five-storey apartment building, and remote airports are 3D-printing spare parts for aeroplanes as they need them.

DISRUPTERS

Technology has changed the world of work through ‘disruptive’ sharing-economy platforms. Disrupters are changing how we create and do business. For example:

    Uber was founded in 2009. In 2016, they have 18 million connections and deliver people, food and packages in 400 cities in 68 countries.

    Airbnb was founded in 2008. At the time of writing, it has 1.5 million listings in 34,000 cities in 190 countries, and 15 million guests.

REGULATIONS AND COMPLIANCE

Ever-increasing regulations, requiring complex compliance, are making it harder and harder and more and more expensive to run and operate a business and employ