Follow the money, or so the popular saying goes, and you will gain insight into the true dynamics behind events, decisions or schemes. In the world of work, I would say follow global trends and you will be better prepared yourself for the future and a career with a global mindset. You will have a better understanding about where the jobs are, globally, or about where and which ones will come, or about those that will flourish.

Since this blog is not meant to be a Wikipedia type of source, and to avoid getting lost into endless definitions – and debate about exact meanings – let us simply adopt the following operational definition: a global trend is a force, change, or phenomenon which affects us all (global reach) in many ways (economically, lifestyle) and causes a chain of other (smaller) changes, and stays for a long time – until it is disrupted again – or indefinitely.

Right away let’s jump into these trends and their influence in the creation – just sometimes destruction as well – of jobs.

Urbanization: the UK and the Netherlands were the first countries where the urban population surpassed the rural population for the first time. According to the National Intelligence Council, by 2040, nearly two thirds of the global population will be living in cities.

Growing urbanization brings a variety of challenges – from pollution to traffic chaos – but also gives birth to jobs, lots of them actually.  Real estate agents, civil engineers, urban health specialists, IoT specialists, traffic engineers. You name it.

Aging: Japan usually comes first to mind when talking about aging, but it is a phenomenon happening in many countries, mostly developed ones, with Europe leading at the continent level.  Yes, developed countries are aging. By 2030, the expected additional 0.5 billion people will have been born mostly in the developing world.

Increasing attention to the elderly translates into higher demand for professionals in healthcare, wellness, among others, not to mention the opportunities in a variety of businesses tailored to the elderly and its implications for employment. At the same time, an aging country suffers severe labor shortages.

Yes, that’s right! You already imagined the opportunity there. Japan, for instance, is expected to face a shortage of around 270,000 AI and IoT engineers by 2030

Technological change: impressive technological advances and the influence on employment has been at the front of news headlines in the last years. But for millennia, technology has affected employment – for good (mostly) and for bad. It has caused the extinction of some occupations but has also triggered the creation of new ones. Technology also has a profound effect in the way we work.

Being particularly attentive to the technological changes; being curious about the next things to come, can give you a first-mover advantage if you prepare for it.

When a new technology enters the industry and companies start looking for talent – usually in scarcity at the beginning – oftentimes there is a salary premium. Being in the recruitment world has made me a first-hand witness of this.

AI and ML engineers, prompt engineers, cybersecurity engineers, blockchain specialists, digital marketing specialist, bioinformaticians, AIxRobotics engineers, edge AI engineers – the list goes on.

Increasing international movement of goods, capital, people, and money: despite the recent politically-triggered setbacks to global trade and movement of people, they are poised to increase in coming years.

In 2020, more than 270 million people were living in a country different from their country of birth. That is, 100 million more than in 2000, according to the International Organization for Migration. People are on the move, but many open positions are not being filled, everywhere.

Countries with shrinking populations, such as Japan, need to find more overseas markets for the variety of goods and services it produces. One of the difficult-to fill positions is international business development.

Immigrants are not always better off; they may end up in a situation worse than they had expected or settle for less than they deserve. Excluding those displaced by disasters, human capital could be better allocated if prospective immigrants were more knowledgeable about where they would fit best. For instance, being well-informed about skills and occupational mismatches in the world.

Climate change: The recent USA withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is another setback, but, it’s likely that the movement towards greener economies will continue, most likely led by Europe. 

According to Burning Glass Institute, the demand for green skills, such as energy management, are growing and they are becoming transversal to various industries, just like digital skills are. New specializations, such as climate change reversal specialist, are emerging.

The Trend	Jobs
Urbanization	Variety (urban health specialists, IoT specialists, traffic engineers, etc.)
Aging	Increase in industries such as healthcare, wellness, etc. – An aging country suffers more labor shortages
Technological change	Variety (ML engineers, prompt engineers, bioinformaticians, cybersecurity specialist, etc.)
Increasing trade (capital, people, money)	Overseas business development, supply chain specialists, etc.
Climate Change	Energy management, renewable energy engineers, environmental engineers, electric and autonomous vehicle specialists, etc.

A world full of changes can be scary – after all, nowadays some media outlets and plenty of YouTubers are feeding “the ‘AI will kill your job’ fear”. For some, looking for job can turn overwhelming. But this world is also full of opportunities for those who take curiosity to a serious level. By that, I mean curiosity about what’s happening in the world, what’s expected to happen, and preparing accordingly.

Also, again, the developed world is aging, and as a result, its working population is shrinking. That very same world happens to be full of highly technologically and innovative companies (of all sizes) that are struggling to find the right talent, so that, for instance, some are tapping more into those close to retirement age. 

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Disclaimer: the global trends themselves are not of my own (intellectual) findings. They have been brought to everybody’s attention by a variety of institutions – with slight differences among them – such as McKinsey, the World Economic Forum. These trends are widely recognized.