Where will the jobs of the future come from?

Going through the predictions about the ‘jobs of the future’ from a number of sources, I found some interesting conclusions.

I have made a personal selection from all the ideas –especially from the list of Thomas Frey, which contains 162 items, but the list I use is still representative of the line of thinking of these futurists. Additionally, I put them on a graphic with the timeframe at which these jobs could emerge (my own judgment), the likeliness of these jobs to emerge (my own judgment) and the impact they might have in terms of job creation (my own judgment):

Okay, this is not a scientific study. On the other hand I had no preliminary motive or message when starting this exercise, so it has at least a flavor of neutrality. 

But what are the conclusions?

First conclusion: many futurists put forward jobs that can be categorized as ‘developer jobs’ (in red in the chart). Gamification developers, digital architects, avatar designers and managers, one could argue that these jobs in a way exist already. Or at least they are within the scope of what can easily be imagined for the near future. No need for futurists here…

The second set of jobs has to do with drones (in orange in the chart). Each day I am amazed at what drones are used for (beside military applications). If regulation (and security) permit, we could see a vast array of new, innovative applications for drones. Good thing is that (for now) you’d still need humans to pilot them, so the potential job creation factor is substantial.

The third group of jobs is straightforward as well, and is a direct result of the ageing population. I grouped different names into two: end-of-life therapists and elderly well-being consultants in a way exist already, but no doubt this group will grow in the future (and will see new specializations in them).

Where things start to get both interesting and speculative, is with job that have to do with medical developments (blue and light blue), as well as jobs that result from sustainability and climate change challenges (green). ‘Vertical farmer’ is likely to become a very popular job in tomorrow’s megacities, but what about extinction revivalists? Shall we really start dinosaur farms in the future?

Happy to hear your view in order to refine this chart in the future!

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(PS the sources to build this list came from Rediff.com, Brandwatch.com, Mashable.com, University of Kent and futurist Thomas Frey).