Occupation Identification
Within the recent advancement in technologies and the long-term achievements of processes automation, many types of jobs are now on the verge of being attributed to execution without actual human work. Under the circumstances when particular activities are more likely to be automated than others, it is relevant to assess the extent to which automation applies to various spheres. The occupation of interest is Chief Financial Officer (CFO), which is a managerial type of work.
According to the statistical report carried out by McKinsey Global Institute, financial managers as an occupation is currently characterized by 34% of automation potential; approximately 499,000 employees, who earn on average 54$ per hour, across the USA are engaged in financial management (“Automation potential and wages for US Jobs,” 2017). It is evident that CFO is an occupation with a relatively low potential of automation in comparison to such spheres as production or construction, the automation potential of which reaches 90-100%.
Occupation Assessment
The level of automation varies from occupation to occupation, where some jobs might be fully allocated to non-human processing, and others are only partially exposed to automation. When assessing the CFO’s occupation, which falls under the category of management, one should underline that only several activity types have a substantial potential to be automated. As the statistical graph presented by Manyika et al. (2017) shows, the activity type entitled “predictable physical” has the biggest potential to be automated (p. 7). The percentage of time spent in US occupations for this activity is one of the least within the management job family. This implies that the process of performing physical activities in predictable environments within financial management might be automated to a significant extent.
At the same time, there are activities that have the minimum of automation potential, meaning that they lay within the realm of human expertise. It is relevant to exemplify the ones entitled “manage” and “expertise” (Manyika et al., 2017, p. 7). The percentage of time spent in US occupations demonstrates that there are many people employed in such positions. Therefore, people’s creativity and logic in decision-making that is crucial for such activities as managing and developing people, as well as planning and carrying out creative tasks on the basis of expertise, cannot be significantly automated.
Steps Assisting in Occupation and Career
When planning career goals, one should incorporate the strengths and opportunities identified within the IPIP Big Five Personality Assessment and the automation potential statistics. Firstly, by concentrating on managing activity type, I will be able to pursue a sphere that is less likely to be automated. Secondly, conscientiousness is my strong personality trait, which, combined with neuroticism, contributes to my accuracy in task completion, persistence, responsibility, and thriving to be competent. Lastly, consistency in educational and professional activities will provide me with an opportunity to achieve my career goals.
Conclusion
In summation, the labor market continuously undergoes the changes in automation level. With the emergence of technologies, more and more occupations become automated. However, there are those particular activity types of which cannot be significantly automated due to the crucial role of human participation in them. One such occupation is CFO, which is a managerial position that requires creative thinking, unconventional decision-making, and expertise. To pursue career goals within this occupation, I should cultivate traits of conscientiousness, persistence, and responsibility, which are crucial in the financial management sphere.
References
Automation potential and wages for US Jobs. (2017). Web.
Manyika, J., Chui, M., Miremadi, M., Bughin, J., George, K., Willmott, P., & Dewhurst, M. (2017). A future that works: Automation, employment, and productivity. Web.