Applying for Work in 2040. Are You Ready?

What might applying for work in 2040 look like? Hard to imagine, right?

Maybe we can help with that.

On September 20, Thrival Humans X Tech participants will be able to step into what the future of workforce readiness might look like at the LIFE.CODE Interactive Experience hosted at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

KnowledgeWorks has joined forces with Remake Learning, the Carnegie Mellon Entertainment Tech Center, Education Uncontained and a group of local high school students to create an installation for the event that helps participants consider what skills might be needed to navigate the future workforce and how algorithms coupled with augmented reality (AR) could be used in the future for hiring.

The interactive installation is titled after a futuristic agency designed to support in workforce readiness assessment: The Algorithmic Hiring Center. Participants will be transported to future to find work, navigating a series of workforce readiness questions while using AR and voice-activated technology via the Microsoft HoloLens. The short, five-minute, experience points to existing changes in the workforce due to rapid technological advancements.

The Algorithmic Hiring Center may sound farfetched, but this experience is merely an extension of the present reality of how individuals are learning to navigate the rapidly changing the workforce today. Most web-based job hiring platforms use algorithms to help identify

qualified candidates, but there is still a large component of the process that relies on human intervention. The Algorithmic Hiring Center puts forth a future where algorithms play a larger role and in the face of increased automation in the workplace the importance currently placed on transferable skills may be outweighed by employees who can leverage their uniquely human aspects, including developing a resilient emotional core and navigating uncertainty.

Detailed in The Future of Learning: Redefining Readiness from the Inside Out, work will continue to change rapidly due to the rise of smart machines and the decline of full-employment. As new forms of work continue emerge and existing forms of work change, algorithms, machine learning and an emphasis on skills over credentials are increasingly becoming a part of the hiring process. The Algorithmic Hiring Center exhibit isn’t about helping participants “get hired” for fictional future jobs. Rather, it’s about the skills, knowledge and dispositions that may prove more useful in future workforce scenarios.

Changes to the future of work may mean that communities could face major disruptions in the coming years. Given the immense role that works plays in our individual lives and to the overall health of a community it is critical to consider what skills people will need in order to be ready for whatever future of work emerges. The interactive experience on September 20 provides an opportunity for individuals to experience the future and to consider the implications of accelerating technologies on the workforce and the hiring process. Come experience the Algorithmic Hiring Center and see if you are ready for the future of work!

Learn more by attending Thrival’s LIFE.CODE Interactive Experience hosted on Thursday, September 20 at the Carnegie Museum of Art from 5:00PM—11:00PM.