What Will Australia’s Workforce Look Like in 5 years?

Times change, people change, the world can change in an instant. Sociological changes can have staggering snowballing effects on all aspects of life. The phenomenal occurrences we have seen during 2020 so far have had life-changing effects on the employment world and many have had to completely rethink their entire working future. The workforce of 2025 will not wait around for the jobs lost in the pandemic.

For the younger generations, the career they may have studied their entire life for is now no longer in reach. For the older generations, who may not be ready to retire but have lost their jobs overnight, are now facing applying in completely different sectors for a job they want to be their last. For all, changes are inevitable, as reported by advisory firm Alpha Beta the average Australian worker aged between 21 and 65 years will likely change jobs 2.4 times over the next two decades.

We are all hoping to survive the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic, and by 2025 like to think we will be in a skilled, permanent and secure job. In order to do this, acquiring new skills, practicing them, deploying them and repeating this sequence is going to best prepare us for the future job market.

Although, it is not just the pandemic that can create set-backs for workers. Advances in technology, robotics and automation can pose challenges and competition for humans worrying they could be replaced by electronics or computers. OR in turn worrying they could be replaced by another human being willing to do the same job for a cheaper rate. The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the fact that the workforce of the future is subject to unavoidable change, which we may not have truly given much thought to before the crisis. It has been brought to our attention that we need to be better prepared for sociological change in order to avoid the painful consequences of being left behind. Those who are willing to develop and advance will be the successors of a generation.

Australia’s Workforce in 5 years is certainly undetermined and unpredictable. The solution? Be prepared, be ready to evolve, grow and welcome change as if it is a certainty. Upskilling and constant learning is going to be a necessity and extremely beneficial for an individual making their way through the labour market in the coming years. The traditional path of education and work is thought to end learning at 16, 18 or 21 and to work in one industry or sector thereafter. But it seems this will no longer suffice and we will need to continue learning and working at the same time, not one or the other, but a combination of both.

Written by Sophie Cunningham; 2^nd September 2020