The FINANCIAL — More than 25% of total professions in the world have disappeared over the past two years, experts say. Jobs have disappeared in the manufacturing, construction and goods-producing industries. New technologies have had a great impact on and caused the disappearance of old professions.
Now many machines do the jobs humans once did, and do them faster. Production workers have been replaced by robots and automation. Their jobs have been disrupted by machines. As computers and automated systems are increasingly taking the jobs humans once held, more and more professions are becoming or have already become extinct. As a result, some jobs are in decline and others have disappeared altogether.
According to the National Statistic Office in Georgia, the economy now represents more than 1,628.1 jobs in Georgia. It isn’t known how many jobs have been lost in total in the Georgian economy. Economist Davit Papuashvili shared his opinions and observations with The FINANCIAL about the disappearance of professions in Georgia.
“It has been discovered that there is no place for some job categories in today’s marketplace. The field of science, physics, mathematics, language sciences, geology, and engineering are fields which aren’t as developed now as they were in years past. The country must make a choice of which professions the country has a competitive advantage in. In Georgia professions based on intellectual skills such as physics, mathematics and other fields have a competitive advantage. Georgia has an advantage compared to others in the agriculture sector as well.
Economists think that there is structural unemployment in Georgia. This means joblessness caused not by lack of demand, but changes in demand patterns or obsolescence of technology, requiring retraining of workers and large investment in new capital equipment. “When the market structure is changing the market should study new skills and technologies. But it doesn’t mean forgetting old ones, which are already well developed and experienced, necessary professions. Rather, the point is that if the firm can produce products more cheaply and reduce workers and expenses due to new technologies, this is in its interest,” added Papuashvili.
Davit Papuashvili imagines what the world or marketplace will be like in five or even ten years, what new professions will appear and which old ones will become unnecessary. “I think that new professions, such as e-commerce, internet-oriented professions will appear in the future. Imagine how profitable it would be for Georgia to develop e-commerce. This will increase gross domestic production significantly and will be useful for the economy. New professions will be created in the tourism sphere. I think that it’s important for service-oriented jobs to be created as well. The reason is simple – humans are willing to pay for a personal and customized service,” he added.
The disappearance of professions can be caused by new technologies or innovations and by changes in our society, experts say. Careers and professions are being displaced by new technologies. One of the most obvious examples is the disappearance of telephone service operators, typists, graphics departments, film processors and more.
Professions can be divided into 4 groups: those which have disappeared, those which are slowly going away, those which have been replaced by changed services, and those which will appear soon. Certainly the list should begin with these professions: mail carriers, microfilm and film careers of all types; photo lab technicians, train caboose men, newspaper boys, phototypositors and typesetters generally, typewriter and other mechanical, electrical office repair have all disappeared.
Real estate agents, for example, have changed their services. Experts suppose that real estate agents will feel an impact in the demand for their work as more buyers and investors use web portals to look for properties. In regards to HR recruiters – social media and online sites are replacing them. And in addition librarians and collectors will slowly become less relevant.
Discussion about this post