In these tough economic times, which are marred by job losses and high unemployment, media personality Sbusiso ‘DJ Sbu’ Leope has called on the youth to stop being job seekers and start creating employment for themselves by being entrepreneurs.
South Africa has an official unemployment rate of 27.1% and more than half of those in unemployment lines are young people under the age of 35 according to Stats SA.
“Attention hustlers! 15 jobs that will disappear in the next 20 years due to AI: 1. If you drive for a living, there won’t be a job for you in the next 10 years. Please my brothers and sisters start thinking of entrepreneurship!” he tweeted.
This might seem drastic but according to an Oxford study on the sustainability of some professions, DJ Sbu might be right.
The study found that if you’re a: driver, cashier, farmer, travel agent, fast food worker or even a movie star, you might soon be out of a job within the next 10-20 years. (See below for more jobs that will become extinct)
Sbu has been on a drive to help entrepreneurs by using his influence to get them some business. He has created a hashtag to help people promote their businesses.
“IF YOU'RE PROMOTING YOUR BIZ ON TWITTER. HASHTAG #DJSBU I WILL RT TO MY COMMUNITY OF 700K POTENTIAL CLIENTS FOR YOU. NO QUESTIONS ASKED I WILL DO THE MOST,” he wrote.
South Africa is not the only country that finds itself in this predicament of unemployment and daily retrenchments. “While the Fourth Industrial Revolution’s wave of technological advancement will reduce the number of workers required to perform certain work tasks, responses by the employers surveyed for this report indicate that it will create increased demand for the performance of others, leading to new job creation,” a report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) titled Future Of Jobs read.
Across the industries surveyed, jobs expected to become increasingly redundant over the 2018–2022 period are routine-based, middle-skilled white-collar roles. According to the WEF, the below are redundant roles in all industries.
Data Entry Clerks Accounting,
Bookkeeping and Payroll Clerks
Administrative and Executive Secretaries
Assembly and Factory Workers
Client Information and Customer Service Workers*
Business Services and Administration Managers
Accountants and Auditors
Material-Recording and Stock-Keeping Clerks
General and Operations Managers*
Postal Service Clerks
Financial Analysts
Cashiers and Ticket Clerks
Mechanics and Machinery Repairers
Telemarketers
Electronics and Telecommunications Installers and Repairers
Bank Tellers and Related Clerks
Car, Van and Motorcycle Drivers
Sales and Purchasing Agents and Brokers
Door-To-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers
Statistical, Finance and Insurance Clerks
Lawyers
“For workers, there is an unquestionable need to take personal responsibility for one’s own lifelong learning and career development. It is also equally clear that many individuals will need to be supported through periods of job transition and phases of retraining and upskilling by governments and employers,” the report concludes.
