Question

Greetings from the real economy. I’m Steve Lohr, a tech reporter for The Times, and I tend to focus on the effects of technology beyond Silicon Valley. No question, the Valley is a wellspring of innovation and home to the ascendant digital corporate giants, both feared and admired. But it’s just a sliver of the $20 trillion American economy.

Technology is only a tool in service of greater ends, and those ends presumably extend beyond creating billionaires and enriching investors. The larger agenda, in economic terms, includes growth, productivity, living standards and jobs.

Let’s take one of those economic ingredients — jobs.

Forecasts of technology’s impact on jobs run the spectrum from apocalyptic to sanguine, depending largely on the pace of progress in artificial intelligence. But there is a consistency to the serious research on the coming course of automation: In the near term, occupations are more likely to be transformed by digital technology than destroyed by it.

But a decade or so out, there will be big changes. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that up to a third of the American work force will

have to switch to new occupations by 2030.

The work of the future, it seems clear, is going to be digitally inflected. Software skills are increasingly essential to every field. Most tech workers no longer work in the tech industry, and that trend is accelerating.

The biggest challenge is finding pathways to good jobs in the modern economy for the two-thirds of Americans who do not have four-year college degrees. Addressing that challenge is the focus of policymakers, state and local governments, some companies, and several nonprofits like the Markle Foundation and Opportunity@Work.

These efforts are typically not far along yet, but the ones that seem to work best are collaborations — public-private partnerships that also involve nonprofit organizations and educational institutions.

A new project adopting the collaborative model was announced this month in New Haven. The goal, said Gov. Dannel Malloy, is “cultivating the tech work force talent of tomorrow.” The new venture aims to double the number of software engineering graduates in Connecticut over the next several years.

Its educational partner is a college-alternative start-up, the Holberton School. Founded in 2015 in San Francisco, Holberton offers a two-year program to create software engineers. Its graduates now work for companies like Apple, IBM, Dropbox and Tesla. The school charges no tuition, but graduates who get jobs pay the school 17 percent of their salaries for three years.

After the Connecticut announcement, I caught up with Holberton’s founders, Julien Barbier and Sylvain Kalache, both alumni of Silicon Valley companies. Their school is designed around projects and peer learning with mentors, but no formal teachers.

Technical skills are only part of the program. Writing white papers, project reviews and public speaking are also emphasized. Critical thinking, teamwork and learning to learn are the higher-order skills.

Technology changes too fast, Mr. Barbier said, for expertise in a particular set of software tools to be a lasting asset in the labor market.

“In two years, you do learn a craft that is in demand,” said Mr. Barbier, Holberton’s chief executive. “But this is really about self-learning. If you can train yourself, you’re never going to obsolete.”

In San Francisco, Holberton has enrolled a total of 300 students since it opened its doors two years ago and, with added space, hopes to bring in 1,000 students a year before long. At the New Haven school, which begins next year, Holberton plans to start with 30 to 50 students and then expand rapidly.

Its model has made encouraging progress. But the big question for all the experiments intended to prepare people for the future of work is whether anything can scale up to the size of the challenge that America faces.

1. How valid do you think this article is?

2. Do you worry that after 4 years of college you might not be able to find a job? What value does being here give you?

3. Do you think that in 10-20 years you might have to re-educate yourself in order to remain employed or do you think you will have to keep learning while on the job? This might be hard for you to answer but if you research it you can see what the projections are.

help me this questions in details

Answer 1

Ans. 1: The article given in the question largely talks about the modern corporate scenario. It provides an insight into the culture developed in the modern economy. In its first paragraph, it gives an example of Silicon Valley having the impact of technology in this era.

This article could be of use to someone who wants a summarized view of impact of technology on the modern economy.

Ans. 2: It is always a question which comes to the mind of every student in his final college days that whether after completing studies, he/she will get a job and if yes, how soon would that be possible. In this fast paced economy, everything is changing rapidly. Education system too is evolving every day making it difficult for the students to keep up with the pace. However, most of the colleges and institutions these days, are recognising the changes and hence, they make themselves ready for it. To cultivate new changes in their students, these colleges and institutions are offering courses which are not so conventional. They lay their focus on making their students ready for the available job market by enhancing their soft skills, critical thinking, teamwork, learning skills etc. This kind of formal training given in educational institutions gives student support, confidence and boost their morale to face this job market.

Ans. 3:

Whether we like it or not, employees are constantly being judged on their capabilities and benchmarked against their peers. And, unlike studying for a qualification, the goalposts in the workplace keep moving. This might be because of new technology, customer demand, legislation or simply because there is a new chief executive with a different vision. All these changes invariably have implications for the staff.

Some organisations are good at providing learning opportunities when they can see a direct benefit to the organisation. What’s offered, however, may not always be in line with what you really want or need for your career. So, if you want to protect your employablity, you need to take charge of your personal development.

According to the 2012 Learning Survey by Niace, the adult learning organisation, there’s a strong correlation between learning and sustained employment. Staff who undertake learning activities are more able to adapt to the changing requirements of an organisation and gain a competitive edge in the job market. Candidates who demonstrate that they’re conscientious about their personal development are likely to be seen as highly motivated and engaged. Their openness to learning also suggests they’re flexible, adaptable and will bring a continuous improvement ethos to the workplace – all of which is appealing to an employer.