Executive PA Australasia October November 2016 | Seite 61

“You will need to know how to operate a
driverless car, communicate with your boss
over a smartwatch, merge spreadsheets on a
smartphone, be conversant on the latest devices,
use a telepresence room, perform or find WiFi
hotspots in the middle of a desert.”
WE ARE IN AN ERA of unprecedented change that is
transforming the workplace and the way we work. Wherever
you look, constructive and disruptive innovations are creating
new industries, new business models and new technologies.
It is predicted that these working methods will open the door
to greater diversity and flexibility, which will lead us towards
the freelance and ‘gig’ economy.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE ‘GIG’ ECOMONY?
Fundamentally, the term ‘gig’ economy reflects shifts in
employment trends towards various forms of self-employment,
independent contracting, temporary agency projects and
freelance work. The name is derived from musicians who were
always looking for the next gig to maintain their income. It has
also been called the ‘on-demand economy’, ‘sharing economy’
and ‘peer-to-peer economy’.
This more diverse market will create many new roles and
job titles as new professions come into existence. Jobs are
continually being invented; there is already a growing market
for roles such as big-data architect or drone technologist.
Furthermore, flexible working is likely to create fluid career
patterns, with many of us following a zigzag rather than
straight path. Instead of focusing on one type of role or sector
throughout our career, we will have a patchwork of temporary
projects and assignments, with the help of apps and platforms.
We will no longer be tied to one sector, but be able to move in
and out of different industries and operate around a variety
of disciplines in response to changing economic demands.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
According to the World Economic Forum, we are going through
a fourth industrial revolution, which will further displace some
human roles in favour of machines and automation. A new
generation of artificial intelligence (AI) machines will replace
humans in routine jobs.
However – before you start to panic – while smart machines
may take over some of the more mundane work, there will
always be a demand for human skills such as curiosity,
empathy, creativity and critical thinking, which are as yet
irreplaceable by machines. So, what are the implications for
PAs? The main challenges will be how we deal with, manage
and take advantage of all these changes simultaneously.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 | WWW.EXECUTIVEPA.COM.AU
61