The Jetsons, a 1960s animated sitcom, imagined a futuristic world where a typical work week was one hour, two days a week. Technology took care of the rest for George Jetson and his co-workers – representing the great hope that technology would make human lives easier. But the cartoon series also foreshadowed a longstanding fear about automation: That it would inevitably steal human jobs and leave people struggling to find work in a technological world. George was forever battling his workplace nemesis, Uniblab the robot, and regularly getting fired and re-hired by his curmudgeonly boss, Mr. Spacely.
It was smartly subversive comedy, and captured themes that continue to resonate to this day. The loss of manufacturing jobs to automation was a significant talking point in the 2016 presidential election, and fears about technology turning over entire industries has spread far beyond factory workers.
So what can you do, as an employee beginning a work life or already mid-career, to reduce the odds of being replaced by technology? Be more human, focusing on traits and skills that can’t easily be replicated by a computer. These are the sorts of soft skills that liberal arts graduates tend to excel at, career surveys show.
– Michael Hampton
- Employers want people who are warm, friendly, easygoing and with others. Empathy shows employers you are a team player and part of the work family.
- Good employees are versed at planning, setting priorities, using common sense and adjusting to day-to-day challenges. Follow your curiosity.
- Focus on continuous learning. This could be technological skills like coding, or it could be other types of changes. Whatever you do, don’t in place while the world around you changes.
- The courage and willingness to speak up and accept new challenges highly valued by managers. Employers tend to appreciate individuals who speak their minds and ask direct questions about procedures and company operations.
- Writing in the workplace has to be coherent, logical and compelling internally and externally. Excellent writers will advance in most settings remain a valuable asset in advancing the company mission.
