Adapting & Growing With Technology

It has been a hectic 3 months since I last updated my blog. Besides the increasing work load due to the academic cycle in my institution, I have been aggressively gaining knowledge and skills for the sake of my future. Some people are perhaps wondering why I chose to torture myself to take up courses when there is no intention to switch jobs or have any direct benefit to my work. The real reason is because I simply have no choice. Especially for professionals in the technology related fields, constant upgrading of skills is necessary to stay relevant in our profession. Although some people find it silly to be in technology related fields such as IT or engineering, I beg to differ. Technology is advancing at such a supersonic pace that half the jobs that exist today may be phased out in a decade or earlier. One good example of such job is  vehicle driver. Driverless cars and buses are already in testing phase and are expected to roll out commercially in a couple of years time. Many jobs are in the process of being replaced by technology. However, it does not necessarily mean that human intervention is no longer needed. When the North East MRT line started operating in Singapore more than a decade ago, the trains were driverless. Without the need for a staff to operate each train, there was however a need for at least one staff to be stationed in each train to maintain order and deal with technical glitches or emergency situations. In this case, there was no reduction in headcount. Instead, additional headcount is needed to ensure the well-being and safety of commuters. As the train system became more complex through the use of driverless technology, more technical expertise are required to perform the maintenance of the train system. In a way, the use of more advanced technology created more job opportunities for the workforce. As such, there is job opportunities for everyone as long as you are willing to adapt and grow. 

There are some people especially those in middle or upper management levels who gladly assume that their jobs are as stable as a mountain and refuse to upgrade their skills. This is certainly not true according to a theory from Charles Darwin, the famous naturalist, geologist and biologist which states that "It is not the strongest species that will survive but those that are adaptable to changes". A good example to prove the trueness of this theory is the acquisition of NK, the once renowned mighty mobile phone manufacturer in the world. Its products were so wonderful that in its hay days, out of 10 persons walking on the streets, at least 7 of them owned its phone. Since its products were great and the company did not make any mistakes or wrong decisions, why did it end up in such a pathetic state? The reason was simply because the company was not well adaptable to changes. Although the company launched smart phones during the era when iPhone and smart phones from other technology firms became popular, its products were disappointing. The company failed to incorporate innovative features into their 3G smart phones like how it did to include famous games to its 2G mobile phones which took the world by storm. Worse of all, the Operating System and software installed on its smart phones were lacking in user friendliness and full of bugs. Obviously, the company failed to maintain innovation and quality by adapting to the changes of mobile phone technology transiting from 2G to 3G. This is clearly an example of the fittest species which was unable to adapt to changes and being eliminated eventually.

As Singapore aspires to transform herself into a smart nation, many of her citizens and residents look forward to the benefits which the Internet of Things technology can offer. The government has been aggressively injecting funds for such projects and promoting awareness. However, the biggest obstacle in this transformation journey is probably the lacking in expertise. First of all, Engineering and IT have always been the least popular choice of study among the Institutes of Higher Learning in Singapore. A large portion of the students enrolled into the courses for these two technology related fields either achieved examination grades that do not qualify them for courses in more sought after fields (such as Business or Finance) or failed to secure a place in those courses which are more popular. Few students would choose technology related courses because of interest in this area. Due to the ongoing smart nation campaign, a lot of children as young as those in primary schools started learning basic programming but not many of them would eventually choose IT or Engineering related studies by the time they reach tertiary level in education. Secondly, although there are technology related students graduating every year, a large portion of graduates from technology related courses do not remain in the profession for long. The long working hours, unattractive salary and worse of all, little recognition forces most of them to switch to other professions. These factors resulted in an acute shortage of technology related professionals so much that the government has to accept foreigners to makeup the shortfall. The smart nation dream would most likely be a fantasy without people with the right skills to implement and support. Given such circumstances, development jobs which are outsourced to technology professions based overseas, quality control and communication becomes a challenge. Even after the project has been completed and the product successfully launched, it has to be supported by professions based locally for faster response. The route to a smart nation and thereafter certainly creates more technology related jobs for interested job seekers to fill. In fact, Singapore already has an oversupply of management professions and what is lacking most is technical positions waiting for people to fill.