Australia is undergoing a massive change in workforce and technology related. With automation and artificial intelligence reshaping the norm, we're at a decisive point of adaptation to work and maintaining a livelihood. As the skills needed for jobs take a dynamic change, we're faced with both new job opportunities and a decrease in repetitive traditional work which imposes both a good and a relatively alarming reality.
How is AI Changing the Game?
Automation, robotics, and AI are elevating traditional industries to be much quicker with work, more efficient with processes, and cut costs, significantly. Robots and automated systems are doing a lot of assistive work and have almost taken over the repetitive tasks in manufacturing, mining, agriculture, and much labor-intensive work. This on the other hand leaves decisive, creative, and complex work to human efforts. While this is helpful and does sound good on paper, it still raises concerns about labor-intensive job displacements. More so forcing workers to adapt to new roles and responsibilities.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are also transforming the way businesses make decisions with fewer delays and much more data-reliant decision-making efficiency. These systems often do amazing work in finance for fraud detection, risk management, and in healthcare about diagnostics and personalized treatments. The customer service sector is taken by storm with chatbots and virtual assistants for a more personalized approach to customer retention.
Technology heavily contributes to the gig economy and remote work aspects as well. With technology taking over labor-intensive work, there is a significant availability of flexible work arrangements like remote and freelance work.
How Do We Prepare?
Australia is on a path to reskilling and upskilling its workers to prepare for future job requirements in this new tide of job availabilities. Offering professional development programs through government programs, vocational training institutions, and industry partnerships for more hands-on experience on jobs varying across digital skills, coding, analytics, and other digital economy-demanded roles. Assisting its workforce to cater to these business needs and be equipped with the required skills is absolutely a game-changing movement to coexist and thrive in the digital age.
Technology has also enabled a few waves of entrepreneurship in Australia. Modern-day businesses leverage and rely heavily on digital platforms, e-commerce, and social media to reach their customers, network, and grow their businesses. This is directly challenging the traditional norms of how a business used to go about. The Australian government has also started initiatives to support innovation, research, and entrepreneurship efforts providing an ecosystem to thrive. Some of these support lines vary from grants, incubator programs or even tax incentives.
However, there are a lot of policies that also need adapting or changing when it comes to keeping up with the new tide of the digital age. Worker's rights are easily blurred in a digital innovation where work and change are priorities. We are certainly in the dawn of moving towards workers' rights that address equitable access to opportunities, address the digital divide, and policies that make education, training, and social safety keep up with where the country is heading.
Conclusion
Technology is reshaping the norm and we're witnessing one of the greatest changes in human history. For years it was always manual work manual everything but now things are changing. For better if you keep up with the changes and for worse if you don't. With the Australian government making significant efforts to ensure professional development is provided across the board, the tools you need for this change are all within access. A resilient economy is in the forge to thrive in the digital age.