What 50,000 Autonomously Delivered Beer Means For Jobs Of The Future

Co-written with Ashley Anderson of DRYVER.

Last week, it happened. The first autonomous delivery of 50,000 Budweiser was made. They traveled 120 miles from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs. Obviously an amazing feat, what does this mean for the future of jobs in in this field?

Well, first let’s take a look at the numbers.

According to alltrucking.com, ‘There are approximately 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States, according to estimates by the American Trucking Association. The total number of people employed in the industry, including those in positions that do not entail driving, exceeds 8.7 million.’

And so what happens when these jobs slowly start to disappear? What happens when there are 3.5 million less people on the roads (not trucks), and a potential of millions more jobs lost?Looking into this further, we wanted to see what jobs employed the most people per state. This is what I found.

Naturally, in seeing this we were a little bit worried. Knowing though, that the world we live in is ever-changing, and faster now than ever before, I believe this is an opportunity.

Imagine that we have the millions of people here innovating and creating new opportunities.

Imagine we had a system that facilitated and supported creativity.

As trucking begins to be more and more automated, there is a massive opportunity for growth and development in computer science, medicine, manufacturing, engineering, and so many more.

But what isn’t considered when we look at the automation of trucking, is how fast development is happening in accounting, finance, and other sectors that are also at risk of job loss due to automation. This, while it might seem scary, is also an opportunity.

But what do we do about it? How can we make proactive change that will create and fill positions before it is too late?

Purpose. Impact. Excitement. The key here is that all of these are subjective.

If we can tell stories more effectively to let people know what lives can be lived through the incredible work that is being done now and the jobs that are available, there is nothing stopping anyone in these field from acquiring skills.

What is interesting to me about the acquisition of skills though, is that it is rarely the skills itself that prohibits people from making the commitment to the job, it is the perception of the skills that is almost scary for people to peruse.

I mean, what if someone doesn’t think that I’m cool enough if I become a plumber?

What if someone doesn’t see value in me becoming a software designer?

What if someone doesn’t think that I’m going to be happy if I am a forester?

What if it didn’t matter?

What if we were able to tell stories not of how much money we made, but how happy we were at work? Where we could talk about the lives we are living through the work we are doing. That we could come home from work with a smile on our face that is just as big as the one we wore when we got to work.

Jobs are disappearing, and this movement isn’t going to slow down. Telling stories, changing the definition of success, and optimizing the workplace is really the only option we have as this drastic change continues to happen.

And so if you’re looking to optimize your culture, tell stories better, and create a happier place to work, give us a call.

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Follow Eric on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Check out his TEDx talk here. Also, check out The DRYVER Group for more information.