The world’s most respected professions in 2019
A recent survey conducted in 35 countries by the global education charity Varkey Foundation canvassed opinions on 14 typical graduate occupations.
In each nation, 1,000 members of the general public were asked to rank the list of professions from the most respected (14th) to the least (1st).
Doctors topped the global list, followed by lawyers and then engineers.
Head teachers also met with approval, but there was less respect for those further down the pedagogical ladder – secondary and primary school teachers lagged behind police officers, nurses, accountants, local government managers and management consultants.
Replaced by robots?
While certain professions will always appear to demand more respect than others, the WEF has warned that the above list may look very different as automation becomes common place.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2018 states that almost 50% of companies surveyed expect automation to reduce their full-time workforce by 2022.
But the report also notes that while automation may displace 75 million jobs, 133 million new ones could emerge, with in-demand roles to include data analysts and scientists as well as software and applications developers.
It also states that 38% of businesses surveyed expect to extend their workforce to new productivity-enhancing roles. And more than 25% of respondents expect automation to create new roles for their business.
Driving advances in technology will require specialists in AI and machine learning, big data, process automation, information security and robotics, and people with blockchain know how.
Loading ...