PM: ‘Some jobs that exist today will not exist in 10 years’ time’

The Prime Minister has remarked that change in the workplace is inevitable in the age of AI, but what matters is how the nation responds and moves to grasp opportunities.

Speaking yesterday (25 June) in Canberra at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) “State of the Nation” conference, on what Australia will look like in 2050, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reflected that the nation’s future prosperity, growth, and productivity will be shaped by changes underway in the world right now.

“The Australia of 2050 will be defined by how we respond to this changing world. Because if we act now, if we back ourselves, if we work together to shape the future, rather than waiting for the future to shape us, then Australia can do more than find a way through this period of global uncertainty, we can emerge stronger, fairer, more resilient and more prosperous,” the PM said in his prepared speech.

In the question-and-answer section of his appearance, a final-year university student studying commerce asked about the government’s priorities in protecting jobs for young people who “did the right thing, went to university looking to go out and get an office job”, while also making sure that those graduates don’t miss out on the productivity gains arising from artificial intelligence.

In response, the PM said that when looking at how to shape the future, it’s important to recognise, in times of technological breakthrough, that there will be some changes to workplaces as we know them.

“Some jobs that exist today will not exist in 10 years’ time,” he said.

“But there’ll be new jobs, and the history is more jobs – if we get it right – created. So, it’s not a matter of just protecting all of the jobs that were there.”

Australia needs to acknowledge, Albanese continued, that technology will continue to develop, and part of the challenge of today’s decision-makers will be to recognise the uncertainty that will be felt by workers who are likely to have multiple career changes over the course of their lives.

That uncertainty creates anxiety, he ceded, “and that makes easy answers and slogans perhaps more appealing to some”.

“When I did my HSC, on a Thursday [I had] the last exam. I started working at the Commonwealth Bank on the Monday morning, I sat for a test with paper to go through, and I thought that was a job that was secure, that I could do for 20, 30 years, and it’s a very different world now,” he said.

What is thus required, the PM said, is for governments to be brave enough to acknowledge change, look after the interests of workers, and simultaneously deal with change, to shape a better future.

“The world is changing. How do we deal with that and take advantage of it? There is no country you’d rather be at the moment than Australia,” he said.

“We have everything under the ground, everything in the sky that the world needs. We have space, which is a big thing that countries to our north simply do not have. That provides us with an incredible opportunity, combined with our workforce, including the diaspora workforce, and the connections with everywhere in the world, like we are just set up for a really dynamic and positive future,” the PM said.

“I’m really optimistic about your future because I’m really optimistic and positive about Australia’s future.”

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Jerome Doraisamy

Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Momentum Media’s professional services suite, encompassing Lawyers Weekly, HR Leader, Accountants Daily, and Accounting Times. He has worked as a journalist and podcast host at Momentum Media since February 2018. Jerome is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in NSW, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.