Is your career D.O.A.?

D.O.A. = Dead on Arrival

The arrival of the future will kill many jobs and, by extension, many careers. A legion of losers will be created, as James Davidson wrote about in his book The Sovereign Individual.

The only jobs that will be spared an early demise are those that cannot be:

• Digitized
• Outsourced
• Automated

Digitization means capturing in a computer file or Web-based audiovidual document your valuable knowledge. Example: many trainers have had their jobs slashed and replaced by e-learning programs.

Outsourcing means your job can be done more cheaply by someone else (who is usually more hungry and accepts a far cheaper wage). Example: call center workers in North America are replaced by call center people in India.

Automation means an expert system or a computer program can perform, flawlessly and ruthlessly, the physical or intellectual operation you were paid to do. Example: software applications that can advise people on their legal options. Some of these applications are doing the analytical and advisory work previously done by a divorce attorney. For instance, instead of consulting an attorney, you can now download an application that asks you to fill out a few details, and can instantly give you all the (legal or other) options at your disposal.