Work will remain a key feature of life in the future, as it is now. Almost two in three employed Australians work full time, and of these, more than half are putting in 40 or more hours per week. However, the average length of time Australians stay in their role has shortened to just under three years.
If this tenure continues through the working life of today’s school leavers, then they will have on average 18 different jobs over 6 distinct careers. Many of these future jobs don’t currently exist, with 65% of those entering primary school today predicted to end up working in entirely new job types that don’t yet exist. While technology is replacing jobs, it is also creating many new ones, such is the fourth industrial revolution we are now in. When today’s senior school students were at primary school, there were still people employed as toll collectors on motorways! Now many of these students are learning skills in robotics, coding, social media marketing, app development and big data analytics.