Many of the jobs we recruit for such has SEO specialists, digital designers and digital marketers to name a few are jobs that didn’t exist ten plus years ago and have only come about due to technological innovation. With 65% of children entering school today likely to be employed in a role that does not exist yet, it is vital that we look ahead and plan for the future.

Jobs of the future

AI Business development managers and technicians 

By 2024, the AI industry is expected to be valued at or above $500 billion. It’s going to be big business in the near future for software and app developers in particular, and businesses are going to need people who can pitch it to prospective companies and help produce/fix relevant applications.

Augmented reality technicians 

Developers have always had to think on their feet and keep up to date with the latest trends to stay ahead. Augmented reality is one of the biggest emerging trends amongst marketeers, allowing brands to give consumers unique virtual experiences via phones or headsets. Demand for this skillset is likely to rise in coming years as consumer adoption of VR increases to 44.3% by 2022 - 2023.

Data scientists 

Data scientists are nothing new. However, we expect to see demand for this skillset increase as workplaces undertake digital and technological revolutions, and may become highly prominent people within the marketing and digital agencies of the future, where they will work to enhance performance in key areas like SEO, real-time marketing campaigns and customer engagement.

The digital problem 

Though the world is developing at a faster technological pace than ever with many of these roles on the horizon in the next 5 years, the digital skill shortage remains a prominent threat towards advancement.

It was recently reported that fewer than half of UK employers believe young people are leaving education with advanced digital skills, which may pose a threat to their profitability long-term.

Though further education can and should be provided in schools to increase knowledge and accessibility to these skill sets, 70% of young people expect employers to invest in teaching them digital skills on the job, but only half of employers are able to provide that training.

There exists a clear gap in the UK for digital skills training in the workplace, which is why in 2008 we launched b-hive to help budding talent get their first foot on the career ladder, developing their skillset for the future.

Though schemes like b-hive can help to develop and nurture young talent, the digital skills shortage is something which employers have been recognising as a challenge for many years at all ages and levels. A failure to address this issue today could have a serious impact on the recruitment of future skillsets for roles requiring AI, AR and data skills, where these individuals are likely to come at a higher cost to organisations due to a low availability of talent.

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