4 Keys to Career and Job Security: Can someone else—or something else—do your job?

Our last post talked about a few industries and employment sectors that will be around when you finish school, or when you are ready for your next career move in a few years. Today, we will look at career security from another perspective.

Career security, in our view, is different from job security. Job security traditionally refers to staying with the same employer, in the same job or in progressively responsible jobs for years. Career security refers to staying in the same occupation, or a related occupation for a period of years, even if you have to change employers. Although we have worked with clients who have stayed with the same company and progressed up the corporate ladder for 10, 20, or even 30 years, this is the exception today.

According to the CareerClaw newsletter “A staggering 98% of workers want some degree of remote work flexibility.” Additionally, “Upwork projects that 22% of the US workforce (32.6 million Americans) will be remote by 2025.” But 100% remote work can be done from anywhere with a broadband internet connection, so is it a secure job?

Suppose the job can be done from anywhere, and it does not require special skills or a government license? For example, an employment agency in Cebu, Republic of the Philippines, contacted us via LinkedIn to offer remote sales and customer service reps for $7 per hour—less than the US Federal minimum wage! How secure is your remote sales or CSR role with this kind of competition?

What characteristics of a career make it more likely that you will be able to find work in that field, or retain your job five years or more from now? Here are a few questions to think about:

1. Do you have to be physically present?
2. Does a customer want a person to help them?
3. Can automation or an overseas provider do the job?
4. What is your unique value?

A dream job, for some of us, might be a remote job we can learn without years of expensive schooling or special talent. But will we have a secure career even if we can find such a job?

Do you have to be physically present?

A well-known quote is “half of life is showing up.” And in some jobs, employers give high marks to almost any employee who shows up on-time every day and works for the full day.

In other words, one way to determine whether a career you are considering will be there for you in a few years is to think about whether physically being there is important. The job won’t be outsourced when someone physically has to do the work, and the work cannot be moved elsewhere.

A classic example of a job that cannot be outsourced is home care for aging and disabled patients. According to the US Department of Labor, this is America’s fastest-growing job as our population gets older. Physical patient care cannot, of course, be delivered remotely.

Overall, surveys indicate that fewer healthcare workers, including highly-skilled workers such as nurse practitioners, work remotely than workers in other fields. This isn’t surprising since one has to be physically present to examine and treat patients.

So, think about specialties in your chosen field that require a physical presence to do the job.

Does the customer want a person to help?

Sometimes customers would prefer to be served by a person that is physically present. For instance, returning to the home care aide example, it may be feasible for an AI or AI-enabled robot to perform certain tasks, but most patients would probably prefer for a person to take care of them. And, while it is feasible for robots to take our order and serve us at a restaurant, customers expect personal service at a fine dining establishment.

While remote work is appealing for many of us, remember that it could be easier for employers to replace you.

Can automation or an overseas provider do the job?

Another question to ask about a potential career is whether automated systems can do the job, or whether the work can be outsourced—sent overseas at less cost. You may need more skills for jobs that won’t be replaced with AI or conventional software, or overseas outsourcers.

The world of auditing and tax prep offers an interesting example. A recruiter told me several months ago that regional accounting firms she deals with are hiring accountants in India to prepare audit work-papers and tax forms for state-licensed CPAs to sign. And, of course, many of us have used tax software to prepare our paperwork, instead of going to a tax service or CPA. Legions of local junior accountants preparing for CPA exams once did this work. 

The implication of these changes is that you will need more skills, certifications, and licenses for career security. Become the licensed and certified local expert that approves the work—not the worker that can be replaced with an AI or offshore company.

What is your unique value?

Last, but not least, you should offer some unique value in the marketplace. A business coach asked me some years ago to explain my “unique value proposition.” In other words, what did I offer that other business people did not offer? As a jobseeker, you want to offer employers some unique value, too.

Your unique value could be that you have an industry certification, government-issued license, or innate talent that others don’t have. For example, if you have a state-issued CPA license you could be hired to sign those audit letters and tax forms that overseas accountants and software systems prepare.

You may also have the aptitude for specific work that other candidates lack. For example, at one time many trade schools promoted training to be a “highly paid computer programmer.” But computer programmers (and today’s software engineers and cybersecurity experts) need the talent to solve logic puzzles, among other things, that not everyone has.

Concluding comments

The sky is not falling on American workers at any level. But you do have to offer a unique value, whether it’s being present at a local work site to do the job, having a special license or certification, or a talent that not everyone can master. Career security means offering value an AI or $7/hr overseas worker cannot deliver. Remember that new technology tends to create jobs rather than destroy them. The world had one website designer in 1989. Now there are millions of designers building websites.