The winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economics, Christopher Pissarides, warned this Tuesday young people against studying STEM subjects (the acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which includes studies of a technical nature). According to an interview with Pissarides collected by Bloomberg, the economist specializing in the analysis of the labor market and professor at the London School of Economics has claimed that in a scenario with a strong impact of artificial intelligence on the labor market, jobs will be created for those who need empathy and creativity Skills have the best perspective.
Pissarides believes that workers in certain positions related to information technologies are “sowing the seeds of their own self-destruction” by developing artificial intelligences capable of doing their jobs in the future. Although the expert is optimistic about the impact of AI on the entire job market overall, he is particularly concerned about those who are focusing their education on STEM fields in the hope of riding the crest of the wave of technological transformation. Although the demand for professionals of this type is currently increasing rapidly, Pissarides says that this boom will eventually subside and that the more traditional professions based on humane treatment, such as doctor, nurse, cook or waiter, will continue to dominate the market.
“The skills that are so needed now – collecting data, filtering and writing code to develop the next phase of AI, where this technology can be used for more tasks – will eventually become obsolete precisely because these AIs are taking over this task will.”, claims Pissarides. “While there is still growth in this area, it is not creating as many jobs for all STEM graduates as needed.”
According to the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, 1.07 million students were enrolled in degrees at Spanish public universities in Spain in the 21/22 academic year. Of these, 290,943, i.e. 26.97%, were enrolled in science, engineering or architecture courses. Regarding vocational training, an article in the educational publication of the Community of Madrid estimated that 32.3% of the courses enrolled at the FP took courses related to STEM subjects. The same article noted a steady increase in STEM students, but concluded that the number of students was not sufficient to meet the demand for skilled workers. The Adecco experts agreed with this vision in their latest report on the most sought-after profiles in our country, although the document also partially agreed with Pissarides, since the professions to which the expert refers are also in high demand.
“This is the case of professionals in the IT sector, who have been one of the most difficult positions to fill for years and whose needs are growing exponentially without the ability to train sufficient staff from universities, vocational training centers and the like to meet these needs.” high level.” demand; Health workers (although they have always been in high demand, since the outbreak of the health crisis they have been more in demand than ever at all levels: assistants, DUES, doctors, laboratory technicians in the life science sector…); and the technical profiles and/or with FP qualifications linked to the development of the sector, such as electromechanics, forklift drivers, welders, craftsmen, operators for the food sector, quality and production technicians. Maintenance,” the report said.
“But this shortage also occurs when searching for qualified profiles related to the development of services, such as: B. Sales and administrative staff with languages, teleoperators and hospitality staff (in the last two years this has been more noticeable than ever before). The lack of qualified personnel to meet the high demand for jobs that accompanied the reactivation of tourism and hospitality activity after the health crisis); and generally this is the case with engineers too,” the aforementioned document added.
In an analysis of AI's impact on employment published last August, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that AI will create more jobs than it destroys, and will automate some tasks rather than completely replace workers. “The occupational group with the highest number of tasks exposed to generative artificial intelligence such as Chat GPT is office workers, with the majority of their tasks being at least moderately automated and a quarter of them being very highly automated.” Due to technological developments, many of these jobs are in developing countries never arise where they traditionally served to increase women's employment. For other types of intellectual jobs, exposure is only partial, suggesting potential for productivity gains rather than job substitution. Most jobs and industries are only partially exposed to automation, and AI will complement rather than destroy employment,” write the ILO experts.
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