In the caring economy, the future of work is more human than machine

Canada hit an interesting milestone in 2017: for the first time in the country’s history, there were more seniors than children. Our aging population is expected to continue growing – so much so that in less than twenty years, seniors could account for almost a full third of our population. 

An aging population comes with a number of challenges, both economic and social, but it’s also an opportunity. The Canadian Occupational Projection System estimates that in 2026 there will be nearly 200,000 job openings in healthcare and social assistance.

Discussions abound about the future of work. Though we often focus on the impact of machines, there are a myriad of other forces at play, and the impact of demographics is one of them.

As Canada’s caring economy – made up of people who assist in the health and well-being of our aging population – is set for exponential growth, we need to consider how to best equip our future workforce for the opportunity. How does Canada develop a workforce that can care for 10 million seniors by 2035?

First, we need to better promote applied education in Canada. In many instances, we as a nation are poor at navigating our young people to post-secondary education opportunities that lead to strong labour market outcomes. We tend to place a premium on university education, however, meeting the demands of the caring economy will mean more polytechnic and college education. The caring economy demands individuals with not just knowledge, but know-how, and we need to do a better job of directing our young people to these opportunities – our future really does depend on it.  

Second, post-secondary education must place a premium on teaching human skills. While it may be true that IBM’s artificial intelligence-driven super-computer Watson (of Jeopardy fame), is revolutionizing oncology, don’t expect the human face of healthcare to disappear anytime soon.

Caring for the elderly requires, among other things, compassion, empathy and the ability to read body language – all uniquely human skills. Given the inherent difficulty when it comes to automating these jobs, we shouldn’t be shy about making significant investments in the development of human skills.

At Canada’s polytechnics, the programs feeding the caring economy are some of the largest and fastest growing – in fact within the membership of Polytechnics Canada, the highest-enrolled degree, diploma, and certificate programs all fall within the caring economy, and these programs, like nursing, personal support and social work all focus on developing the combination of technical and human skills that are critical to this sector.

Human skills are honed and developed through work-integrated learning experiences like field placements and practicums, where students have the opportunity to work with patients in real-world environments. As the premium on human skills grows, governments, employers and educators must amplify their efforts to support this work.

Third, to reduce the social and economic burden of an aging population we need to continue to invest in aging-related applied research.  Eldercare has the potential to be as innovative as advanced manufacturing, and for many reasons must be.

Take, for example, Algonquin College’s Garbarino Girard Centre for Innovation in Seniors Care, a living lab and applied research facility dedicated to devising solutions to some of eldercare’s most pressing challenges. The facility houses a “smart apartment” where the healthcare workforce of the future can beta-test digital health innovations in a sensor-rich environment modelled after a senior’s home.  

In Toronto, at Sheridan’s Centre for Elder Research, a project has just been launched to study emerging technologies like virtual reality, and how they can be leveraged to improve the health and well-being of the elderly in long-term living facilities by, for example, using “virtual humans” to deliver instructional physiotherapy sessions.  

Research facilities like these are not only innovating future care, but also training the workforce of the future to be innovation- and technology-enabled.

Part of the “future of work” challenge is lack of a crystal ball – we simply don’t know how jobs will be affected by disruption and technology. Eldercare is an exception. By emphasizing human skills and making the right investments in applied education, training, and research, the challenges of an aging population can be re-framed as opportunity.