I read two unrelated articles recently, each offering a sobering view of the future.
The first was about the aging workforce, and claimed that within 15 years or so, around 60% of today’s workforce will be retired. That seemed questionable to me until I looked around my own work place, where a hasty headcount suggested the percentage might be a bit higher than that.
The second article addressed the changing work roles available to us all. The one-two punch of a globalized labor force and technological advancement soon will make most of today’s jobs obsolete. Without a quantum leap in the evolution of our educational system, though, most of the citizenry will be unable to perform those few remaining jobs that are actually vital to the continued functioning of society.
Together, we have an emerging picture of the all-too-near future. Most of us will have no employment, regardless of age or experience. The system which sustains us will be increasingly aloof and unresponsive—a phone tree world of cybercommunications, service robotics and synthetic art with no human element to be found. There will be no wise men, no experienced professionals, no repositories of history and knowledge.
How will we avoid becoming nothing more than milling herds, waiting at the technological teat for the next food service, nourishing a blind life within the brain? What will we do with ourselves in that brave new world? How can we keep the spark of existence burning bright when we lose that special sense of purpose and accomplishment that comes from labor?