Pre-pandemic forecasts of the future jobs markets and global business have failed. The COVID-19 outbreak has reshuffled our personal conceptions, perceptions, and plans. National economies, regions, and the entire world are plunged into recession. International trade is affected, and the world order is being re-assessed. However, the emerging post-pandemic trends are recognized and are worth discussing, particularly if you are reassessing your career path.
Social consequences of the coronavirus pandemic
The novel coronavirus pandemic means not only the scope of transmission of the virus and the risk of becoming infected. Social distancing, workplace regulations, and personal hygiene recommendations are not the only concerns. Too many companies are paralyzed. Many job losses have turned permanent across the world.
- What is in store for the future of business?
- Which professions will remain?
- Which skills and education will be in demand?
The service industries are in a drastic decline. Fitness centers, beauty salons, bars, restaurants, and other companies that provide essential and entertainment services have suffered the worst. Their customers have eagerly abandoned habits which they can do without.
The wittiest entrepreneurs began to actively look for new ideas and modes of operation. For example, cafes started offering delivery services that have turned out to be quite a convenient and profitable business solution.
Which jobs will not disappear?
While organizers of sports mega-events, concerts, and live entertainment, corporate and even political conventions, travel, and tourism have experienced tremendous devastation brought on by the Covid-19 lockdown, some occupations have suffered mildly or have not suffered at all.
People will always need healthcare, education, food, clothes, services of electricians and plumbers, building workers. The demand for IT-driven services has grown and propelled new products in many industries and public sectors, including education.
The lockdown and social distancing revealed new challenges and opportunities
Globally, the total number of international migrants was estimated at 271.6 million in 2019. The lockdown and social distancing measures have shut down the influx and availability of a cheap workforce in Europe. It is highly likely that there will soon be an abundance of vacancies for low-skilled jobs in many countries.
The disruptions in cross-border trade will prompt the emergence of new niches in the production and supply of consumer goods, spare parts, and accessories for equipment, pharmaceuticals.
Medical facilities across the world are short of skilled nursing staff and offer incentives both to experienced and entry-level healthcare employees.
Grocery stores and retailers have already announced recruitment programs, and the same situation is in equipment maintenance and repair.
The measures of quarantine and self-isolation introduced during the pandemic have proven that many employees do not need on-premises desks and work stations. Most office staff successfully work from home remotely. Of course, there are some technical challenges involved, and some complain about the inconveniences of different kinds. The survey shows that 31% of respondents do not like working at home. But working remotely has become a common global trend in 2020.
Employers confess that they have higher expectations of their personnel’s attitudes, IT skills, and the following qualities:
- perseverance
- self-discipline
- responsibility for one’s performance.
There is a higher demand for specialists setting up and maintaining remote / home-based work stations, as well as the following staff:
- IT-specialists
- Time-Managers
- Coaches.
In the new post-pandemic technologies-driven world we will need a lot of competent programmers.
New service offerings and skills
Given the current situation, everyone has recognized that we cannot avoid the changes. It’s quite likely that it’s high time we all explored new horizons for our careers or businesses.
Telemedicine
Because of the fear of becoming infected in public places, more people will try to avoid in-person visits to doctors, pharmacies, restaurants. Telemedicine will be newly attractive.
While before the pandemic most doctors did not provide and even were forbidden to offer their services remotely, now they have to agree to prescribe diagnostic tests and even treatment at a distance.
E-pharmacies
A similar approach is going to be accepted by pharmacies, as they now readily take orders remotely and many deliver the pharmacy products to the apartments or houses.
Online public services
Many public services, even voting procedures, will be widely available through mobile apps and web sites, as well as on the phone.
Internet-based banking and FinTech disruptors
Mobile applications for banking, investments, lending, forex, and cryptocurrency transactions, insurance are examples of technologies that have made financial services more accessible to the general public. This trend will continue. Bank and non-bank institutions will welcome cooperation with other industries and will turn into supermarkets of online services. This will require a new generation of bankers.
E-shopping and on-demand meal delivery
The share of delivery services will be increasing, driven by the growing demand for remote shopping. The meals industry will grow, and restaurants will be able to stay afloat only by meeting the wishes of customers to eat at home.
Safety and security high-tech technologies
The modern standards of safety and security of personal data, assets, and privacy are getting higher. Correspondingly, practically every aspect or sphere of human life will be integrated with technologies for face recognition, voice recognition, temperature screening, KYC, document validity checks, and other verification procedures.
Online pastimes and e-education
More activities and pursuits, including training and education, research, business, and private communication, entertainments, even visits to museums and exhibitions – will be available online. The demand for virtual and audio tour guides is predicted to grow. At the same time, guiding along hiking trails in nature parks will also be a popular service.
Remote communication channels
Soб the providers of remote communication channels and services will compete by the speed, reliability, user-friendliness, security, coverage, compatibility, and availability of data transfer.
Applied IT
The IT sphere will continue to remain at the forefront of all innovations, and there will appear more jobs of different profiles, as more companies in different industries and spheres will develop products and services based on AI, IoT, VR, AR, BD, and other cutting-edge technologies.
E-Consulting
There may be a short-term rise in the demand for business optimization and on-line re-engineering experts, but it will not last long. But social networks, blogs, web sites will be more widely used for virtual consultations in many fields.
Logistics
Logistics will get a new impetus for expansion. There will be designed new schemes and relevant services of storing, handling, moving, delivering the goods.
Engineering and design
As we see, new technologies will come to the rescue of many jobs and occupational fields.
However, human beings will maintain a key role in managing all the devices, gadgets, machines, and technologies. So, careers of designers, engineers, programmers will be on the top of the lists of most promising professional paths.
Technological advances
For a long time, the opportunities and benefits of creating new agricultural complexes of vertical farming in the urban environment have been discussed. It looks like this is the right time to seek experts in designing new gardens, fields, and orchards on walls and roofs of skyscrapers.
Robotics achievements and innovations will be used on a larger scale for agriculture and food production.
Drones will be given more tasks than a flying camera. They will deliver dangerous tasks or make monotonous tasks more efficient in many areas.
Environmental awareness is gaining more attention and becoming essential for our future. Resource-saving and clean technologies, recycling, processing, waste treatment, redevelopment, and new cultivation methods will need to be encouraged and applied more globally. This will require environmental professionals and experts in many jobs across a big scope of industries.
New technological advances will inevitably occur in such fields as artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, robotics, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, and block chain. They are going to transform the job market opportunities and challenges. On the other hand, they will drive business ideas and opportunities for investment.
Our experts would be happy to discuss with you your projections for new careers and start-ups in particular countries you are interested in. Should you need our professional experts to assist you in obtaining second citizenship, incorporation of your offshore company, opening of bank accounts abroad, please contact us at the e-address given at the top of this page and request the specific services.
