In the words of Yogi Berra, the future ain’t what it used to be.
Or, as Gregory Grant, administrator for the Jacksonville Small and Emerging Business (JSEB) program, put it: “It is a very different time than when Generation X and Baby Boomers were high schoolers.”
Where past generations would focus on traditional jobs and traditional skill sets, things have changed for the next generation.
“Now, we have to really focus on entrepreneurial skills, the critical-thinking skills, the creativity — all of that is very important, because we’re not teaching youth how to go out in the market to get a job anymore,” said Grant. “We’re teaching them how to create jobs, how to create their own incomes, how to create their own destinies, how to create their own retirements.”
Grant was in the audience during the EnterCircle Youth Symposium on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the link in Nocatee. The EnterCircle summit is an annual multiday event focused on entrepreneurship, and the Youth Symposium is always reserved for teens to learn from leaders in a variety of fields. It is free for the students to attend, though speakers of this caliber often ask $15,000 or $20,000 to give a presentation.
Shedrick Williams, senior architect of innovation and venture designs at GuideWell Health got things started with “F.A.I.L. to S.A.I.L.,” followed by Kurt Smith, COO for CarSaver, who spoke on “Creatorship: The Next Human Superpower,” and then Indie Bollman, CEO and owner of Indie Bollman Coaching and Consulting.
Dan Glunt, co-founder of Hatter Angels Investment Program, spoke on “Ideas for Entrepreneurship, Investing & Life,” and Marinda Bottoms, JSEB ambassador, spoke on “Seat Your Table.”
Lucas Wyman, founder of Code Alliance Incubator, spoke about his own career with “The Pivot Principle: How to Turn Failure into Fortune When AI Changes Everything.” Wyman, whose team is creating a synthetic human brain with multiple, astounding applications, encouraged his audience to stay on top of the changing job landscape in the face of the many fast-approaching impacts posed by AI.
Brad Morrison, founder and CEO of GoWP and Quickly Hire, gave students a look at their own future in his presentation, “Careers in 2030.”
Morrison said that, while 92 million jobs will be eliminated over the next five years, 170 million new jobs will be created. He predicted that the students would each have up to 17 jobs across seven careers in their lifetimes.
“Nearly a quarter of all jobs will be completely transformed,” he said. “That means that you may have the same job title, but what you’re doing is very different.”
He cited a World Economic Forum survey revealing that 40% of employers planned to reduce their workforces where AI will be able to perform those tasks.
“This isn’t 10 years away,” Morrison said. “It’s happening now.”
So, what types of jobs will be spared from replacement by AI?
“If your job requires physical presence, like if you have to be there in person to do the work, you’re in a strong position,” Morrison said. “If it requires deep human connection, building trust, providing care, understanding emotions, you’re in a strong position. If it requires truly original thinking, creative problem solving, strategic decisions that can’t be scripted, you’re in a strong position. But if your job is sitting behind a screen doing routine work, even coding, you need to move up the value chain. And you need to do it fast.”
He gave numerous examples of careers expected to grow by 2030 and the salaries for each. He listed them by category: tech, human services and health care, skilled trades, creatives, sports and military. A surprising number of these jobs did not necessarily require a college degree.
Morrison encouraged the students to seek out paid internships, calling them the “fastest route to employment.” He also encouraged them to meet with executives and company leaders, who are often open to speaking with students.
“Students do not take advantage of this enough,” Morrison said. “And I’m telling you: once you graduate and become an entry-level worker, you do not have the same access to the C suite, CEOs, COOs. You just don’t.”
Like other speakers that day, he also encouraged his audience to start building a network.
“Most jobs come through connections,” he said.
Author and TEDx speaker Rob Swymer took the stage next with his inspiring presentation, “Surrender, but Never Give Up.” He described the struggles he had to overcome in life to get where he is today and taught the students a simple practice to activate helpful chemicals like serotonin and dopamine and reduce damaging chemicals like cortisol.
He also encouraged them to be grateful.
“The brain cannot process fear or anger if you are in a state of gratitude,” he said.
Jason Englehardt, founder of SiliconBeach.ai, described his own career changes and explained “Peaks and Valleys of Entrepreneurship.”
EnterCircle is known for the high quality of its speakers. Raghu Misra, co-founder of the link, said he chooses his speakers based on what kinds of things he himself would like to learn, calculating correctly that others would share that interest.
And even though he knows his guest speakers well and has heard from them in the past, he still discovers things with each presentation.
“It’s jaw-dropping in terms of how much I got to learn today!” he said.
Anyone interested in the JSEB program described by Grant or its Entrepreneurship Workforce Development Centers can learn more at jseb.jacksonville.gov.
