6 Futuristic Jobs Involving Construction
A 2019 white paper by Cognizant took a look at the future of employment and proposed 21 jobs that will emerge in the future. While the report admits that certain jobs will go away due to automation, it adds, “To conclude that many new jobs won’t appear due to automation, AI and intelligent machines is to fall prey to a simple lack of imagination.”
The authors observed the economic, demographic, cultural, political, technology, and business trends of today to come up with their list. Following are six of those jobs of tomorrow that have the potential to involve the construction industry.
1. Human-Machine Teaming Manager
Future construction work will involve combining human skills with machines, and such collaboration between humans and machines is already emerging as a workforce. The competitive advantage to be gained by construction companies is by using robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) software for accuracy, endurance and speed, then combining those features with the unique human qualities of judgement, empathy and cognition. Hybrid human-machine teams will collaborate to achieve more work faster and with a greater level of safety.
2. Data Detective
Currently, much of the data collected on construction projects does not get used or even examined. Jobsite data might be generated by Internet of Things Endpoints, sensors, biometric monitors, drones, cameras, traditional computing infrastructure, as well as next-gen fog, mesh and edge computing. A job of the future will involve sorting through all that data, deciphering what it indicates about the current job and future jobs, and generating business recommendations from it.
3. Augmented Reality (AR) Journey Builder
Just as moving from 2D to 3D representations of a project revolutionized the customer experience, AR goes further to immerse the customer in a job walkthrough. Using data overlay and UX writing, a journey builder can personalize that AR experience using setting, music, information, tone, characters, and suggestions for job features to observe.
4. Information Technology (IT) Facilitator
– As the number of remote work and collaborative environments gain on traditional in-office situations, companies need to maintain centralized control of their mobile and desktop systems, applications and services while preserving uninterrupted visibility. An IT facilitator enables the entire workforce to work more efficiently using automated self-service, collaboration and knowledge-sharing.
5. City Cyberanalyst
The show must go on. Interruptions to fuel, electrical or data transmission equipment/suppliers can bring a construction job to a halt. In the future, cyberanalysts will ensure the steady flow of data – bio, citizen and asset – for safety, security and functionality. They will troubleshoot equipment issues, diagnose faults, replace components and circuitry, and keep systems resilient in the case of hacking or equipment failure.
6. Traffic Controller
The rise of autonomous vehicles and popularity of drone use have prompted government agencies to discuss how road and air spaces are managed for safety’s sake. Drones are routinely used on construction sites, and they add to the competition with traditional aircraft for airspace. Driverless cars, haul trucks and load carriers can affect highway traffic flow. Managing particularly these two new tech innovations will require traffic controllers to use automated AI platforms to monitor, plan, regulate, and manipulate road and air spaces.
The Cognizant report estimates that 21 million new jobs will be created over the next ten to fifteen years. Some of them may sound like science fiction, but it’s fairly easy to envision how a few of them will develop in the construction industry. As the report summarizes, “Work has always changed but has also always been with us. And always will.”
Learn about the onslaught of change and digital transformation causing construction markets to shift … download the free eBook from Applied Software: “Ultimate Construction Tech Stack for 2021.”
