It’s been like Christmas around here. Americans have created so many shiny things. New technology networks like social media. New processes such as 3D printing. We have even developed entirely new business models like UBER and Airbnb. We have unwrapped an enormous bounty of presents and now those gifts are changing our communities, our jobs and our lives. We spent the first 20 years of this new economy ramping up innovation. We will spend the next 20 years rolling it out.
Take automation. We’ve been seeing glimpses of automation at our favorite spots for several years: AmazonGo stores, McDonald’s self-ordering kiosks, Venmo’s banking services- even Uber’s AV experiments come to mind. Personally, Hyatt’s smart-mirror concierge ranks right up there for me. But behind these customer-facing automations, massive shifts are underway across the whole spectrum of American industry-fundamental changes that will profoundly impact how, where and when we work over the next few years.
At the same time, many of our communities are still sitting on the sofa waiting for Santa (you there, in economic development) to bring back old-economy manufacturing, coal, or you-fill-in-the-blank jobs.
This year, what our communities need for Christmas is a candid conversation about what’s coming. We know with certainty that automation is going to eliminate a portion of traditional jobs, reconfigure millions more and create new positions that require advanced technology adaptive skills. It is incumbent upon each of us in economic development to understand how these changes will likely roll-out in our respective regions, then get out the microphone to share with our constituents what’s coming what we are doing to soften, guide and make the most of the transition.
It is a difficult conversation, in part because a fair number of our community leaders still think these shifts are somewhere down the line. They are not. Timing, according to McKinsey Global, will vary based upon an array of factors but is already underway in industries we all have in our regions, like hospitality, healthcare, transportation, retail and finance. Most researchers agree that before 2030 we will be knee deep in this shift.
Across the country, innovative best practices are emerging which will provide opportunities for everyone in the workforce to have a lifeline, but first we have to deliver the news that Santa isn’t coming- or at the very least he will be soon be delivering gifts via Amazon and not those labor intensive reindeer.