This is, reliably, the time of year when everyone who has an outlet, pipes up with their projections and predictions for next year. Iām no exception, although Iāve learned to keep my thoughts to the level of expectations, and nothing more. Economists make projections and then, inevitably, are quoted as being surprised by the actual results; and fools make predictions that are equally off the mark. I make neither pretense, but based on my position as a job market observer ā and Iāve kept a close eye on it for more than a quarter of a century = there are certain expectations I can reasonably hold and defend.
Like the ten I made in this forum on December 16 ā āWhatās in Store for ā24ā ā when I laid out 10 job market influencers for next year. In this article, letās expand that field, allowing for a longer vision, especially regarding developments that may not show up on the seismograph or in the headlines, but most certainly will in the near future, at which point weāll all look back to 2024 and say, there it was all along. (Isnāt that just like us?) In no particular orderā¦
- Clean energy ā Already here, of course, but not at the required scale or level of sophistication. Expect those improvements to add jobs in 2024.
- Garbage as energy ā Not surprisingly, the EU, US, Iceland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are leading the way, with Scandinavia way out front. This should be bigger than it actually will be, but little strides can go a long way. Watch for it.
- Energy storage ā Where energy s gathered ā wind, solar, tidal ā and where it is consumed are two different things, Between them are storing and transporting that energy. Breakthroughs? When costs come down.
- Sustainability ā Of what? Too broad a term, although reduction in individual use containers and supplies is a reasonable expectation.
- Quantum computing ā Weārestill in the embryonic stages, but anyone who ignores this in 2024 will miss out in 2025. This will make supercomputing look like hand-held calculators.
- Nanotechnology ā This is further advanced than most people realize, and due to its very nature, under the surface of so many other things. But itās all over the place.
- Robotics ā Think of anything thatās too difficult, too dangerous, or too impractical for humans to do ā deep see exploration, extreme weather operations, bomb squads, mob dispersal, communicative infections ā and thatās where robots will dare to tread.
- Smart homes ā This goes way beyond controlling your thermostat from your phone 100 miles away. This market influencer is already quite visible.
- Urban planning ā The expected urban exodus, spurred by the pandemic, never occurred. We noe=w have to get serious about sustainable ways of dealing with further urbanization.
- Vertical farming ā Its viability has been proven beyond doubt. This year, expect rapid growth,
- Algorithm development ā Algorithms are nothing new; the Babylonians and the Egyptians developed them. But nowā¦Math majors delight! Jobs, jobs, jobs.
- Artificial intelligence ā The biggest of all. In fact, the greatest transformation in human history
- Graphene ā This one development could change absolutely everything we do (Look it up; itās truly awesome.) It hasnāt hit market yet, but when it doesā¦
- New (old?) biology ā Imagine a frozen lake 2.5 kilometers below the surface of Antarctica (Lake Vostok). Imagine what we could learn from that: biology, evolution, etc. But weāll have to find another one because Russia got there first (thus the name). Intriguing, isnāt it?
- Ocean literacy ā We know more about space than we do about what in our oceans. The EU is way ahead on this, but the rest of the world is paying attention
- Games and UX ā More than entertainment. Serious implications in the field of simulated learning environments.
- Beyond the cloud ā I donāt know whatās beyond, but something is. Iām watching.
- Space ā With the James Webb telescope doing just what was expected, weāre learning more about space each day than we did in all days past. Look for amazing news.
- Propulsion ā If space is so important, so will be our ability to get there faster than we do now. Enter fusion energy: propulsion without having to carry fuel, but firing photons and lasers instead.
- Ethics ā More than ever, the need to balance what we could do with what we should do. Lots of jobs here if we mean what we say.