The Tsunami of changes
Today the world population has increased from 1.5 billion in 1950 to 5 billion in 2012 and could to grow to 6 billion by 2040. The major issue among all governments is how to find jobs to their people, especially in Asia and Africa where the population is growing the fastest. The key concern is without appropriate actions, there could be chaos as it already happened in some countries in Africa and the Middle East. Young people without jobs, without direction, and without hope are easily get involved in lawless behaviors, anti-social activities, drugs, alcohol or even participate in terrorism.
With the Internet, the whole world is now fully connected and a global economy has emerged. As the job market is no longer local but global, competition is fierce because people do not compete with people within their own country but with every country. Today works can be distributed or outsourced from one place to another quickly and workers can travel to work in another country easily. With hundreds of millions labor workers in India and China willing to travel anywhere to find jobs, the labor job market is getting very intensive. When I was in Dubai, I saw hundreds of thousand Chinese and Indian labor workers working in construction projects. A manager told me: “They are much cheaper than local workers so in the past few years we brought in more of them for construction works.” I asked: “What happen to the local workers?” He shook his head: “They cannot compete so they do not have jobs.” When I was in Africa, I visited a mine where most workers are Chinese. I asked the manager: “What happen to African workers? I think their wages are also low.” He answered: “Yes their wages are lower but the Chinese bought the mine so they can bring in their own workers.” I asked: “What happen to local workers?” He said: “There are no jobs for them.” As fewer labor jobs are available there is higher unemployment among the youth in many countries.
In the next few years the whole world will see a tsunami of changes of unprecedented magnitude as many workers will have to change their occupations to something else or they will not have jobs. Nobody will know what will happen because of this huge global job loss as technology and automation are increasing being used in many industries. In the past, workers can adjust to changes gradually over many years but this time it is happening at much faster pace due to the speed of technology changes so most will not be able acquiring new skill fast enough. According to a well-known economist “The whole world is sitting on a bomb and no one know when it will go off.” Without adequate strategy, many countries cannot compete in this technology driven global economy. As technologies continue to advance, there will be much less labor works in the future but there will be more technology works. The obvious logic is to develop more technology workers by quickly shifting the education system to focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
Today robots are being used across industries and soon many jobs in transportation and logistics will be fully automated with self-driven cars and delivery drones that will make bus, truck and taxi drivers out of work. More than that, automation is also extended to other office works too. Soon approximately 75% of office works will be automated. Many office and administrative works; receptionist, secretary, sales will be done by machines and robots. In the 19th century, the industrial revolution created many employment opportunities for less educated workers to work in factories but the technology revolution has mainly created jobs for highly-skilled and college educated workers to work in entirely new technology industries. Basically most future jobs require at least a college degree in STEM fields.
To young people who are going to college, you are taking an important step toward your future career; even some of you may not yet sure of what it may be. It is important for you to realize all the possibilities and the choices in front of you so you can make the right decision. Instead of wandering what to study, you can plan your future by reading more about these changes that are happening all over the world and set your education goals accordingly. A college education can take you into a good career such as medical doctor, computer programmer, software engineer, entrepreneur, mathematician, information system specialist etc. The choice is yours, and it is important for you to decide which one. Of course a successful college career requires carefully planning and hard work because you go to college to get educated. You should not select easy courses because you never realize your full potential until you are challenged. People are successful because they work hard and overcome challenges. They are successful because they have the knowledge, the skills, and the determination to succeed. Many people go to college but do not succeed because they do not put in any effort. When they face something difficult, they give up without even try; they select easy courses so they can have more time to enjoy themselves. They often get distracted by other trivial things and have no sense of direction for their life as they just move from one thing to another. They memorize facts to pass exams so they can get a degree, but without knowledge and skills they cannot get job. In this highly competitive world, a small mistake in school can have big consequence in life.
For many years of teaching, I can assure you that anyone who put in the efforts can be successful in college. It is the hard work that separates those who are successful from those who are not. Of course there are times when you do not think you can do it, there are moments when you doubt your ability but do not let these things to overwhelmed you, they come and they will go. The general rule in college is that you should spend about two hours to study for every hour that you spend in class. Most successful students told me that they spend about 35 to 40 hours per week to study as a minimum. Some students complained: “That is too much, when do I find time to enjoy?” I told them: “You can spend 4 years to study so you may live comfortable for the rest of your life; or you can enjoy 4 years now and spend the rest of your life worry. It is your choice.” Last year a student told me that he needed to spend more time with his girlfriend else she will leave him. I told him that he may spend time with her now but she may left him when he fails college and become unemployed. I said: “You need to set your priority because you go to college to get educated, not to get a girlfriend.” Students often lamented: “But science and technology are difficult.” I asked them: “How do you know that they are difficult if you never study them? Because many students think they are difficult so they avoid them so there is less competition and easier to get job”
STEM careers are exciting because they revolve around innovation. There are so many new things to learn and they open so many opportunities. If you study these fields, you will never be bore as they require challenging works and allow you to explore so many things. I believe STEM careers can improve our world and make it better. For example, scientists find a cure to diseases; engineers create products such as computers, mobile phones to help make life easier for people. In the past twenty years there are more innovations than the past thousand years and I think the next ten years will be more exciting with more innovations than ever before. If you have these technology skills, you can work anywhere since there is a shortage of these skills in every country.
Currently we are witnessing so many technological innovations that cannot be imagined few years ago and it is happening on a global scale, affecting everyone, everywhere and every country. Just imagine that the Internet was only 25 years old; the first iPhone was created in 2007; and 3D printing was only 4 years old. In the next few years, you will see self-driven cars, smartphones become “Doctor in the pocket”; and 3D printing that can print almost anything, including human organs and tissues. Basically we are facing a tsunami of technological change, driven by information technology revolution that affecting everything. As students you can chose to participate in it as an engineer, a scientist; or you can stay away and look at it as a spectators; and it is your choice.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
