Every time I see the word “carer,” I think someone misspelled the word “career.” But isn’t it ironic that carers will more and more define the future of work? Why? People are living longer, which, in some cases, means they need to be cared for longer. While Artificial Intelligence may put many careers out of business—truck drivers, accountants, software developers, etc.—AI has a long way to go to match the caregiver’s empathetic, intuitive skills.
Unfortunately, we don’t tend to value (or pay well) our caregivers. In fact, we often outsource this kind of job to immigrants. Of course, with tighter immigration restrictions in the U.S. and more need for caregivers, something’s (or someone’s) got to give.
In the 19th century, career paths were often defined by farming. In the first half of the 20th century, the dominant number of new jobs revolved around factories. From the second half of the 20th century to the present, we’ve seen the advent and accelerated growth of knowledge workers in offices.
Moving forward, a more significant percentage of our career and personal lives may be in caregiving. Informal, unpaid caregiving of friends and family members will become an even more foundational part of our social contract with each other. I only hope that we wake up to the value of this skill sooner rather than later.