This article was written by Fiona Kingsford, chief executive of COMPETENZ (industry Training Organisation) and looks at the future world of work.

Our industry needs apprenticeships to help  it adapt to change, says Fiona Kingsford.

As New Zealand's holiday season ends around 24,000 school leavers have begun preparations to start their first jobs and another 37,000 have started heading straight down a debt laden tertiary education pathway.

Whatever choice these school leavers make, their lifelong learning starts now and, like it or not, lifelong learning is going to be mission critical to their future success.  Now, more than ever before, it is vital students choose a pathway that equips them to learn new skills for jobs that don't yet exist in an automated future.

But, despite what many people think, automation is not a jobs killer.  In fact, automation is the opposite: it will create new jobs and new opportunities.

The World Economic Forum predicts 75 million jobs will be lost in the next four years as companies automate, but, at the same time, 133 million jobs will be created.  Human jobs won't disappear, they will change.

As parents, whanau, and teachers, we are natural guides for our young people.   But we need to accept the world of employment is undergoing a massive shift, and that shift is happening right now.  Our children must be equipped with the skills they need to meet change, and to find relevant, rewarding and adaptable jobs.

Changing attitudes

Outmoded thinking of what workplace learning and apprenticeships can deliver to school leavers is an ongoing battle for us at Competenz, one of New Zealand's industry training organisations.

It is an attitude that is incongruous with the high level of technical skill that today's modern manufacturing plants, engineering workshops and other trades based workplaces demand.  In reality, these are exactly the skills needed to meet the future of work, head on.

Secondary education remains focused on setting up students for a university pathway, and ,with more than 60 per cent of all school leavers enrolling in university, that focus is working.  Parents working at Competenz have experienced  this with their own children and as recently as last year, at an NCEA information evening held by a large state school, no information was given about what subjects are prerequisites for a trades career.

School that continue to push students towards university with the promise of higher paying jobs and more rewarding careers are missing the boat.  Research commissioned by New Zealand's Industry Training Federation in 2018 has confirmed this and, in doing so, has busted some old school myths.

By avoiding student debt, apprentices and trainees earn significantly more in the early stages of their career and get a financial head start.  They buy a home earlier and, for most of their careers, have a higher net financial position than graduates with a Bachelor degree and above.  By the age of 28, an apprentice has earned $165,000 more than Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Science graduates.  By the age of 30, a mechanical engineer has earned $185,998 more than an accountant.

Some of the mechanical engineering apprentices we work with are using artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to facilitate the automation of a growing number of 'doing 'tasks.  Today's AI enabled, information rich tools are increasingly able to handle jobs that in the past have been done exclusively by people. These shifts will produce massive disruptions to employment and, if we are going to meet this disruption and prosper from it, we need to address it now by helping our children choose the right learning pathway.

In demand skills

The people needed for the 133 million new jobs, referred to at the beginning of this article, will take on the responsibility for gleaning insight and intelligence from the machines, fixing and maintaining them, as well as quality assurance, among other things.

And automation is not reserved for the the mundane or repetitive 'doing' tasks traditionally seen as being occupied by low skilled labour.  It is also replacing tasks  by those classified as highly skilled and highly educated including surgery, accounting and law, creating efficiencies across the entire labour spectrum.

According to Manpower Group, the most in demand skills are the trades, sales representatives, engineers and drivers.  The World Economic Forum also identifies the top soft skills that will be an absolute given in 2020, skills our young people will need to thrive.  Those skills are collaboration, empathy, complex problem solving, critical thinking, creativity and people management.  In our opinion, the best place to learn these skills is on the job.

Learning begins now

Who knows where automation will lead us?

We can have few doubts there will be careers we haven't even thought of.  What we do know is that there is a genuine disconnect between what many think the future will hold and what is needed to face the future of work.

We have to collaborate and help our children develop the range of skills they will need to succeed in this brave new world of work.  Although disruptive, these shifts offer new opportunities and they are opening new pathways for our young people.

We believe their lifelong learning begins now, on the job, for the best head start for their career.