In IT and digital, the first threats to our jobs and the first pressure on our salaries came from offshoring services to cheaper countries: there have been no borders for decades.
And our troubles aren’t over yet: we’ve long seen another kind of competitor coming – robots. Don’t have a robot friend, butler, gardener or nanny yet? It won’t be long. In the meantime, they’re already here: in your home and in your pocket, more discreet but very much present. Who are they?
A world digitised by robots and Google algorithms
These new dark forces are algorithms, artificial intelligence and the online tools that are transforming our private and professional lives at exponential speed. It’s offshoring to the virtual world. What will become of our jobs?
Let’s take an example I know well: my own profession, “Digital Marketing Manager” and 360. Don’t ask me why we use the English title even in French: that’s just the way it is in “Business” and “Technology”. The 360 stands for degrees: what better than a circle to connect the many varied activities of my “job”? For Giotto, the circle represented perfection. Da Vinci completed it with the square. And where does the paintbrush tool fit into all this? Any line will do, as long as it has the right pixels. Back to work: what does a “Digital Marketing Manager” actually do? It’s an example of a fashionable occupation – but yours is no less affected by the digital invasion.
My main responsibilities are (in the language of Shakespeare, please): strategy, creative content and branding, web design and development, interactions (organic, paid, social, email), e-commerce and analytics. Yes we can.
How did I end up in this job? By chance, since I never planned any of it. In any case, I’ve already lost several positions due to restructuring and offshoring, but I’ve never been formally dismissed because of robots. And yet…
An innovative approach: a symbiosis between humans and robots
Professional setbacks are a time for introspection: is this job right for me? My interests are storytelling (spoken, written, graphic, photo, video) and people (I adore them: they are moved and moving, some less pleasant. They are sometimes unpredictable. Each one is a story in itself.). So although I work in digital, I naturally gravitated towards people rather than automation. I work on activities that stop me being replaced by software: customer relations, sales and after-sales, for example. But how wrong I was! The robots are attacking me on all fronts.
So I armed myself with favourite tools for every part of my job: strategy, innovation, usability, design, development, content creation, publishing, distribution, promotion and customer loyalty, among others. Throughout the process, I held on to just one certainty – it had to stay practical for the people who benefit: my clients and me. I automated all my tasks and the experience as much as possible. A revelation! I had just put a whole host of robots to work for me, at low cost and with pleasure. I hope I didn’t eliminate too many jobs along the way. Oops.
So I grabbed the robots by the body and mastered them! I was jubilant – until reality caught up with me: my competitors have far more powerful ones. I’m firing one last cartridge, because it’s the only one I have left: grabbing the robots by the mind. Am I right? Time will tell. In the meantime, my clients appreciate the robots I put at their disposal, the discernment and ingenuity of our creations, and our collaboration. I’ve turned automatons from competitors into servants.
Protecting our planet’s nature is just as urgent as retraining our skills. Making the most of what the web offers isn’t reserved for the “Digital Marketing Manager”: it should apply to everyone. Soft skills have never been so important, unique and irreplaceable. That’s when robots start to serve us. Have you ever shaken hands with a robot? It’s cold. Contact me to find out more about my favourite tools – and above all so that I can listen to you: I love stories and people. We’ll find the solution.
