Contd from Part-1 (click to read)
We are here discussing some unheard jobs that are predicted to become common by 2040. In part-1 we mentioned 10 such jobs.
11. Space tech ground crews – Space X is causing industry experts to rethink time tables for the entire space industry. By 2040, we might have already begun to colonize Mars and space tourism rocket launches will be a daily occurrence. Similar to the airline industry, every launch will require a large cast of people employed in hundreds of different roles.
Possible Related Professions: Mission planners, Launch managers, Launch prep, Cargo prep, meteorologists, Traffic analyzers, Experience designers, Space ethics experts.
12. Asteroid miners – Asteroids are filled with all the ingredients necessary to construct things in space as well as material that can be taken back to earth. These include gold, iridium, silver, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhenium, rhodium, ruthenium and tungsten for transport back to Earth; and iron, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, aluminum, and titanium for construction. As launch costs continue to drop, activity in this space will grow quickly.
Possible Related Professions: Asteroid scouts and surveyors, Mining ground crews, Asteroid mining launch specialists, Bot operators, Material scientists, Transport operators, Asteroid-based smelting operators, etc
13. Fusion power plant builders – With the first fusion power plant coming online in 2040, the global power industry will be making plans to build literally thousands of new fusion power plants to replace our aging power infrastructure. Even though it will still be a fledgling industry, the hiring and prep work will have already begun.
Possible Related Professions: Fusion plant designers, Fusion engineers, System integrators, Micro grid experts, Plant architects, Fusion in space planners, etc
14. CRISPR, bio-hacking, and programmable healthcare– By 2040 we must be able to program our way to better health and genetically cure most diseases. Most will be wearing a huge range of sensors offering real-time monitoring. Longevity will rise, with many living well beyond 100. Children born in 2040 will essentially have a blank slate when it comes to life expectancy. With gene therapy, stem cell and nano-scale medicine, barring an accident or fatal disease, we cease to worry about dying, and look much younger as we age.
Possible Related Professions: Algorithmic health providers & health researchers, Algorithmic dietitians, CRISPR bio-technicians, CRISPR engineers, Biomanufacturing experts, organ designers, etc
15. Tube transportation infrastructure builders – By 2040 we must have begun building a global tube transportation network, which will commonly be referred to as the world’s largest infrastructure project. Tube transportation will employ countless millions of people in both the construction and operation of the global tube system.
Possible Related Professions: Tube network designers, Network builders, Command center, Safety engineers, Network operators, Traffic optimizers, Maintenance and repair, etc
16. Quantum tech– By 2040 we would have made the transition from bits and bytes to qubits. Qubits are the standard units used to measure quantum information. With quantum computing, all traditional encryption systems become hackable, and all users will have been forced to upgrade to quantum level encryption long before 2040.
Possible Related Professions: Quantum computing programmers, Data analyzers, Privacy monitors & managers, Trust managers, Quantum equipment operators, Quantum health monitors, etc
17. Mixed reality builders – We’ve been taught to think two-dimensionally. By 2040, we would be able to throw away the 2D display on our computer and project everything three-dimensionally above our desks. We all live in a three-dimensional world, but we’re only now getting to the point of experiencing it the way it already exists.
Possible Related Professions: Mixed reality travel agents, Therapists, Trainers/Coaches, Game designers, Experience builders, designers, and creators, etc
18. Cultured meat producers – Meat is the most
consumed food in the world. We would be commercially producing meat in
factories/labs before 2040. It will be cheaper than ranch grown meats, and
that’s where things get very interesting because a number of industrial pivots
will kick in, opening the doors to a vast new set of industries.
Possible Related Professions: Cultured meat bioreactor designers, Stem cell managers, Meat designers, Quality control, New product development, Dietary engineers, etc.
Possible Related Professions: IoT elocutionists, Smart building installers, Smart clothing developers, Health monitors, Proximity alert systems, Data actuaries, Failure point assessors, etc.
20.) AI-teacherbot educators– In 2040 we will be living in a world that will require higher caliber people to make it work, and it’s rather preposterous to think our existing systems can suddenly start producing better results.
Possible Related Professions: AI-enhanced teacherbot interface designers, Courseware creators, Engineers, Maintenance and repair, Learning coaches, Skill builders, Life monitors, etc
Final Thoughts
What we can conclude is that future is definitely going to me quite different, changes are going to be disruptive; the entire paradigm would change in multiple domains. New professions are going to emerge & many current ones are going to be wiped out altogether. As parent, our thought process is many times fixated on how we made our careers; can you foresee that imitating same process might be counterproductive for your ward.
There are so many businesses that are marginalized or wiped out completely in last three decades. Kodak, Polaroid, Myspace, Blackberry, Pan American, Netscape, AOL are just few of them. The changes in technology were only incremental in yesteryears. Going into future it is going to be exponential & disruptive. Computer architecture, energy sources and manufacturing practices will change dramatically and we can at least see rough outlines of the shifts. What isn’t visible is the secondary effects, the technologies and business models that will build on top of that change.
That’s why today it is crucially important to set aside resources to explore, experiment and to tackle grand challenges so that one can begin to understand and ultimately harness the forces that will shape an industry. It’s better to prepare than adapt because, by the time you see the need to adapt, it may already be too late.
Content presented is compiled from resources available on internet. Some prominent resourses used are articles published in various international newspapers, fastcompany.com, Futurist Thomas Frey, guild.co, etc.
About Author
Anurag is a Certified Career Counselor and Coach. He is an Engineer & MBA with 20+ years experience in Education Industry. All of knowledge that you find here stems from first hand experience of coaching thousands of successful students. He has been passionately working in the field of career counseling since 2019.