Automation and the Increasing Value of Social Skills
Automation has already happened. The robots have already taken over most of the jobs that robots can perform. And it’s already had major effects.
crossposted on Facebook
The Best Jobs Now Require You To Be A People Person • 2015 Aug 25 • Andrew Flowers • FiveThirtyEight
…“[C]omputers aren’t good at simulating human interaction….” …That means a job as a manager or consultant is harder to automate, and the skills those jobs require become more valuable.
…
Has there been a slowdown in growth of high-wage, technical jobs, or is there simply a shift in growth toward jobs that also require high social skills? It seems to be the latter.
…
…most of the employment growth in jobs requiring cognitive skills occurred in those that also required interpersonal skills. Think of doctors, lawyers and management consultants. Purely technical occupations — those requiring knowledge of math but fewer social skills, such as actuaries, machinists, electricians, billing clerks — have fared badly since 2000 in both pay and job growth. Even jobs with low math but high social skills have grown — lawyers and physical therapists, for example.