Recession & AI Jobs: What It Implies for Next-Gen Professionals?

Albert Christopher
Analytics Vidhya
Published in
4 min readNov 6, 2019

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Recession paints quite a scary picture. Combine it with AI — it becomes a lethal combo!

Why?

Both pose a threat to our jobs. Or do they?

Interestingly, Artificial intelligence has already changed the global economy and is believed to be adding on 16%, which is nearly $13 trillion to the current global economic output by 2030.

Despite technology advancements and the hype going around, it is still quite challenging to answer some of the questions like — are we heading towards recession?

According to a recent report of strong job growth, it is said that the economy in the U.S. may be at their peak employment. But is it? The fact that artificial intelligence has made it widely publicized over the impacts of automation on jobs to be overblown, yet the cloud of the next economic constraints is slowly gathering. Some economists say that the recession might have an early peak this year, while some say it may take a year or two.

Employment, Underemployment & Unemployment — Woes of Workforce!

The statistics say that the current economy is at its full employment.

But is it really?

Unemployment may be at the lowest presently, but underemployment is far higher.

In the short run, AI is going to destroy jobs but will create more jobs than it destroys. A report from the World Economic Forum estimated that about 75 million jobs will be displaced by 2020 and about 133 million jobs will be generated.

In simple words, AI will be able to create 58 million net new jobs by 2022.

The Past, Present & the Future

In the recent past, we’ve often heard how AI is going to change the way we live.

Well, the past is the present reality, as AI is already here and making all the right noises for now with a personal voice assistant, speech translation, gameplay, self-driving cars, and medical diagnosis.

Quite a breakthrough!

👉Future Predictions — A Warning Or A Blessing

McKinsey predicted that 14% of the workforce will be in a dire need to switch occupations in the next 10 to 15 years. Another report by Pew Research Center casts an ominous shadow on the jobs market, as it predicted that about 38% of the current jobs will easily be automated.

Revolution — be it industry or technology — has always instilled fear in people’s minds. Simply, because the fear of losing jobs is stronger than the joy of innovation.

This has been there since the advent of the industrial revolution.

No doubt that AI has disrupted the corporate world, but it has also created numerous opportunities for individuals who are keen on learning, up-skilling, and retraining.

And if the recent study by PwC is to be believed then there is no dearth of positivity, as it reveals that technologies like Robotics and AI should be able to generate numerous new jobs that will offset the job loss due to automation.

Just a way to ensure that the current economy is recession-proof. AI being the scientific infrastructure for research and learning, the current professionals will need to embrace innovations and leave what’s failing today.

👉Upskill & Retrain for Better Future Prospects

AI experts and AI specialists need to step-up their game to stay in the competition.

According to a survey, 50% of companies are expecting a full-time downfall of their workforce by 2022 due to automation. But 40% is still positive toward extending their workforce. 25% of them expect automation to create newer job roles in the enterprise sector.

Organizations, in order to retain their past top performers, must play an active role in up-skilling their workforce. One of the key challenges every organization faces in the current scenario.

👉Beat the Odds with AI Certification and Online Courses

Here’s how …

The future in AI is bright and shining! According to the report How AI Boosts Industry Profits and Innovations by Accenture predicted that there will be an average economic growth of 1.7% across 16 industries by 2035. The report also emphasized that by 2035, AI technologies could increase labor productivity by 40% or even more thus almost doubling the economic growth in 12 developed nations — jobs hub for talented and experienced AI professionals.

So the competition is stiff and AI certification and courses are the proven ways to beat it. Moreover, employers are keen on hiring professionals having validated proof of skills and knowledge in the field.

👉AI Wave — What It Means for Professionals!

Though most of the workers will benefit through re-skilling, retraining, and up-skilling, others will still be left behind. Artificial intelligence has contributed to businesses in profound ways and will continue to do so in the upcoming future.

Presently, there is a huge gap between the supply of AI experts and industry demands. With such prevalence, the demand for AI professionals in this domain may outstrip the supply.

Technology has been at a nonstop growth for the past 250 years, and even during those times, the U.S. employment had stayed between 5–10%. The revolution of electricity changed the world and so did the mechanical power. No one can reasonably claim that we can be better off without technologies like AI. Each of these revolutions made our lives better one way or another.

The economic impact of artificial intelligence will be huge. Overall, the rising opportunity for professionals with superior skills may capture the job market. Embracing AI is the need of today and not tomorrow — opening up a new horizon for learners from different fields. Artificial intelligence is now used in almost every industry and having the readiness to adapt to this technology can ensure a secure career.

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Albert Christopher
Analytics Vidhya

AI Researcher, Writer, Tech Geek. Contributing to Data Science & Deep Learning Projects. #coding #algorithms #machinelearning