Group Report
Table of Contents
2a) Current demographics for chosen occupations in Australia and changes over the past 40 years. 3
Introduction
Technological changes or advancements have been occurring over the past few years, and these changes will surely have an impact on the existing employment patterns. Employees in Australia are likely to lose their current jobs due to the wave brought about by Artificial Intelligence or such similar technological advancements. It has been anticipated that the three major occupations most likely to be affected due to technological advancements are Data Analyst, General Medical Practitioner and Recruiter. Using data, the rapid changes affecting the chosen occupations over the last 40 years shall be discussed. Thereafter, the future probabilities of the changes shall be outlined as well.
2a) Current demographics for chosen occupations in Australia and changes over the past 40 years
Data Analyst
In Australia, Data analytics is currently considered as one of the most useful fields of Data Science. Most of the strategic and operational business-level decisions are made with the help of data analytics. Moreover, around 76% of businesses have significantly invested in their analytics capabilities. As per the reviews obtained from Glassdoor, “Data Analyst” has been considered as one of the most in-demand jobs of 2016. Both in terms of job satisfaction and salary, the job of a data analyst has been ranked highest. Around 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are produced each year, and research shows that 90% of data has been produced in the past two years (Www2.deloitte.com, 2020). The demand for data science skills has also increased. Australian employers prefer candidates with more exceptional knowledge of machine learning and data mining. The demand for the data analysis skill is high irrespective of the industry. Industries such as retail, finance or agriculture are increasingly incorporating data science capabilities. This is mainly done in order to improve the sales and opportunities of the industries.
Moreover, a data analyst is required in biological and medical research as well as in defence or cyber security applications. Hence, it would be reasonable to claim that a Data Analyst is one of the highest paid jobs in Australia and the career opportunities are huge. Research also shows that Data Analysts professionals in Australia are usually under-utilised. Despite paying an annual salary of $130,000, the companies fail to utilise the full potential of the analysts (Price and Henry, 2015). As per the IAPA’s survey conducted across Australian organisation, it has been shown that around 46% of data analysts need to upgrade their skills in order to enhance the effectiveness of the job. Nevertheless, a “data-led” culture is here to stay, and professionals need to become analytics-savvy in order to thrive in the business.
Figure 1: Median salary and range of skills required for data analyst profession
(Source: www.lifehacker.com.au, 2020)
In the early 1970s to early 2010s, the job market of information systems has changed rapidly. The expectations of employers regarding the IT workers have increased. As per the longitudinal trends, employers are seeking diversified job skills and the IS curriculum of educational institutes has a major role to play (Haris et al., 2012).
Figure 2: Data Science employment forecasts, 2016-17 to 2021-22
(Source: Www2.deloitte.com, 2020)
General Medical Practitioner
In Australia, the medical practitioner profession has undergone various changes due to a variety of influences. One of the major influences has been the changing healthcare needs of the Australian population. The state of medicine itself has changed over the last 40 years. Research shows that the general medical profession has developed in a far more sophisticated way. The scope and range of practice have widened, and it has ultimately enhanced the health system of the nation. The expectations of service users in Australia has transformed, and an accelerating trend has been witnessed since the 1960s (Harris and Zwar, 2014). Over the century, healthcare conditions of the Australian population have changed drastically. The population suffers from severe respiratory conditions. Apart from that, chronic metabolic, cardiovascular and endocrine conditions continue to occur.
At present, medical practitioners are focussed on providing patient-centred care. Multidisciplinary knowledge and skills are in demand. In 2010, the Australian government had released the National Primary Healthcare Strategy and thereafter, the demand for healthcare professionals increased drastically. In the Australian medical system, the General Practitioners or GPs are the primary point of contact. As of 20th April 2020, around 43513 general medical practitioners have been registered (Medicalboard.gov.au, 2020).
Figure 3: Employed medical practitioners
(Source: www.aihw.gov.au, 2020)
Recruiter
Presently, AI and robotics have the potential to shape the future of recruiter profession. HR professionals across all industries are preparing for the AI trends. As per the trends witnessed in 2019, it can be claimed that the amalgamation of the human intelligence and AI has transformed the workers as well as the work (Meister, 2020). Hence, the HR leaders are consistently relying on automated work. The idea is to develop team fluency. This, in turn, will enhance the HR capabilities of companies. Contrary to popular belief, AI has the potential to help the HR professionals or other types of workers do their jobs in a better way. Research conducted by Oracle on 600 HR leaders shows that HR leaders could hire candidates at a faster rate with the help of AI. The speed of hiring has increased by 85%, and HR professionals are able to attract a diverse pool of talent.
Figure 4: Human resources employment and total employment (2016-17 to 2021-22)
(Source: Deloitte Access Economics, 2017)
In the 1970s, Australia witnessed the development of formalised labour management. This, in turn, enhanced the economic development of the nation. After WWII, rapid changes have occurred in the managerial ethos of a professional HR manager, and this has played a major role in shaping the Australian workforce post war era (Wright, 2014). The concept of Personnel Management became prominent across the Australian industries. Hence, historical legacies suggest that, the HRM profession has undergone a tenuous evolution across Australian industries and sectors.
b) Future situation of the chosen occupations in 2060
General Medical Practitioner
The need for all kinds of doctors is likely to sustain and GPs are not an exception. In Australia, the percentage of aging population is likely to increase and more number of GPs will be needed to meet the future healthcare needs of the aging population. The state of medicine is likely to transform by 2060. Improvements will occur and GPs are likely to play a major role in improving the long-term health conditions of the patients. Development of expert systems will occur and patients will be able to lead healthier lifestyles. A new trend can be witnessed where GPs are likely to move away from the “fee-for-service” structure, however, the willingness of GPs to participate in the workforce might also get hampered. Lastly, it is noteworthy that the impact of GPs on the healthcare industry in Australia will be high as long as they ensure high service quality for the service users.
Data Analyst
Rising data availability trends will certainly affect the business practices and by 2060, integration of big data as well as semantic technology will enhance the Australian industries. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) at present is focussed on increasing the capabilities of businesses with the help of semantic web technology (Harwood and Mayer, 2016). In the future, the technology would allow the integration of machine reasoning and ensure the flexibility of data structure. It can be predicted that the world will transform itself into a “data-driven” world and it will have a phenomenal impact on the future data analysts. The data analysts must be prepared for a disruptive future.
Recruiter
Digitisation will have a profound impact on the skill requirement of Australian business and a wider skill gap is predicted. The HR professionals will be incorporating employee engagement software program in order to get employee feedback. In future workplaces, innovation will be the key to success and HR professionals are likely to play a significant role in leading the future workplaces. With AI and robotics, every function will be centred on automation and it is necessary for HR leaders to focus on workers wellbeing. The occupation has already been disrupted and the workforce is also witnessing revolutionary along with incremental change (Meister, 2020). The HR professionals will also invest their free time and energy to obtain new and better learning skills. 60% of work activities will be automated. New initiatives will be taken to boost the HR profession and deploy AI so that companies can produce outcome-oriented solutions. Role specialisation is likely to occur and the HR professionals will play a strategic role in the shifting workplace dynamics.
Conclusion
The purpose of the report is to analyse the past and current trends of three major occupations in Australia. It has been noted that technological advancements are shaping the workplaces and new opportunities are present in front of future employees and HR managers. The current demographics of occupations such as Recruiter, Data Analyst and General Medical Practitioner have been presented. Past trends have been considered as well. Lastly, the future probabilities of these occupations have been outlined. Major developments rather than decline have been predicted across these occupations.
Reference List
Harris, A.H., Greer, T.H., Morris, S.A. and Clark, W.J., 2012. Information systems job market late 1970’s-early 2010’s. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 53(1), pp.72-79.
Harris, M. and Zwar, N. 2014. Reflections on the history of general practice in Australia. Medical Journal of Australia, 201(S1).
Harwood, A. and Mayer, A., 2016. Big data and semantic technology: A future for data integration, exploration and visualisation. Statistical Journal of the IAOS, 32(4), pp.613-626.
Medicalboard.gov.au. 2020. Medical Board of Australia – Statistics . [online] Available at: https://www.medicalboard.gov.au/News/Statistics.aspx [Accessed 2 Jun. 2020].
Meister, J. 2020. Ten HR Trends In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2019/01/08/ten-hr-trends-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/#2eb9c95b3219 [Accessed 2 Jun. 2020].
Meister, J. 2020. The Future Of Work: Three New HR Roles In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence. [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2018/09/24/the-future-of-work-three-new-hr-roles-in-the-age-of-artificial-intelligence/#66f5e1894cd9 [Accessed 2 Jun. 2020].
Price, E. and Henry, A. 2015. Data Analysts In Australia Are Well Paid But Under-Utilised. [online] Lifehacker Australia. Available at: https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/12/data-analysts-in-australia-are-well-paid-but-are-under-utilised/ [Accessed 2 Jun. 2020].
Wright, C., 2014. Human resource management in Australia: historical development and contemporary tensions. In The Development of Human Resource Management Across Nations. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Www2.deloitte.com. 2020. [online] Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/Economics/deloitte-au-economics-future-of-work-occupational-education-trends-data-science-170418.pdf [Accessed 2 Jun. 2020]