The debate over the generation gap was the favorite topic when I was growing and still is active when my young ones are stepping into their teens – the obvious difference is the speed at which we all are operating – they are ephemerally connected with todays world while we were hard wired – we hold history more dearly while they believe in freshly baked “now” – we believed in settle & build while they believe in moving on – we wanted to be or still want to be architect of our dreams while they believe in temporary residency ☺ – whatever the difference they are the future !
So what is the future – more and more jobs getting reduced due to use of technology, automation and robotics are no doubt making a world an easier and better place to live in but will it create better quality jobs or will it put more people out of job! Virtually every industry is already seeing the impact of technology on the reduced number of humans – transportation is one good example where driverless cars are a reality very soon – million if not more are on their way out – be it drivers of cars, trucks or taxi. The el Niño of automation is going to spread its wings to other sectors like manufacturing, medicines and even service intensive industries – putting not only blue collars jobs in danger but the white collar jobs too – you and me included. Aging demographics, automation and technology is going to put millions of millennial job chances under severe strain.
Sending a youngster for a 4 year degree is liking sending them to banvas of information know how – and they come out as half baked incomplete professionals requiring lots and lots of effort to bring them at pace – does that mean formal degrees are on their way out – to me Yes ! Learning from rote will only rot the existing system further – millennial that can think differently & not who can pile up grades will survive & thrive – the former in minority while later in majority – working for the former. We all can see stars on a clear sky – many of them – teaching about all the stars is what universities will thrive on – after all they have to make their money – “knowing the right stars and not all” will what make the future star.