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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 F E B R UA R Y 8 , 2 0 1 6 T he recent World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, may have once again underscored the gulf between the haves and have nots. A new survey by the forum predicts major job disruption and churn across industries, most con- centrated in routine white collar offi ce functions, as the world moves forward in what is now the begin- ning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. e report, " e Future of Jobs," polled chief human resources offi cers of today's largest employ- ers to imagine how jobs in their industry will change from now until 2020. Among the fi ndings: the global workforce is expected to experience signifi cant churn, with a loss of 7.1 million jobs in areas such as offi ce and administrative roles from 2015-20 and a gain of 2 million jobs in the computer, mathematics, architec- ture and engineering fi elds. Among the drivers of job function changes are developments in previously disjointed fi elds like arti- fi cial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, nano- technology, 3D printing, genetics and biotechnology, which now are building on and amplifying each other. "We also fi nd that the average respondents expect that the impact for nearly all drivers will occur within the next fi ve years, highlighting the urgency for adaptive action today," the report said. at means trying to adjust to the fact that 65% of children entering primary school today will end up in completely new types of jobs that don't yet exist. "In such a rapidly evolving landscape, the ability to anticipate and prepare for future skills requirements, job content and the aggregate eff ect on employment is increasingly critical for businesses, governments and individuals in order to fully seize the opportu- nities presented by these trends — and to mitigate undesirable outcomes," the report said. Two types of jobs stood out in the survey as being in high demand in the future. First is data analysts, who can make sense of the "torrent of data" generated by technological disruptions. e second is specialized sales representatives, who will need to be able to explain their complex off erings to all sorts of clients. And if recruiting for specialized jobs isn't already diffi cult enough in Maine and other areas of the country, the report found that competition for skilled workers for in-demand jobs in computers, mathematics, architecture and engineering will be fi erce. In addition, with skill demand changing so quickly, educators and companies have to be nimble in absorbing the changes in their training and trying to get out ahead of them. As the report notes, "Across nearly all industries, the impact of technology and other changes is short- ening the shelf-life of employees' existing skill sets." Another surprise coming down the road: by 2020 more than one-third of the desired core skill sets in most occupations will be for skills not yet considered crucial to today's jobs. Social skills such as persuasion, emotional intelligence and teaching others will be valued more than narrower technical skills like programming or operating equipment. at translates into technical skills needing to be supplemented with social and collaboration skills. Many survey respondents were aware of their current planning limitations for disruptive change and its implications on their workers. Only 53% said they were reasonably or highly confi dent about their organization's future workforce strategy to handle the shifts. e study recommends making better use of the accumulated experience of older workers and building an "ageless workforce." Another approach is to partner with public institutions and the edu- cation sector. e report says companies will also have to reinvent the human resources function, use data analytics, diversity talent, leverage fl exible work arrangements, rethink education, incentivize lifelong learning and establish cross-industry and public-private collaboration. B I Z M O N E Y B Y L O R I V A L I G R A Fourth Industrial Revolution presages workforce disruption Unstable Stable Industries overall 35% 65% Media, entertainment and information 27% 73% Consumer 30% 71% Healthcare 29% 71% Energy 30% 70% Professional services 33% 67% Information and communication technology 35% 65% Mobility 39% 61% Basic and infrastructure 42% 58% Financial services, investors 43% 57% Skills stability, 2015–20 S O U R C E : Future of Jobs Survey, World Economic Forum I MAY BE ABLE TO FIT THIS ALL WITHOUT CUTTING IN THE FINAL LAYOUT, STAY TUNED. ITS is dedicated to improving your IT system performance cost-effectively— and then keeping it running securely and safely, no matter what. Our senior management alone have 55 years of combined IBM Business Partner experience. So they can guide application migration, performance tuning and strategic deployment to give your business the best possible solution from your existing infrastructure, new hardware and the cloud. T H AT ' S H O W. I T S O LU T I O N S TO P O W E R YO U R G R O W T H B E T T E R I N T E G R AT I O N , P E R F O R M A N C E & S U P P O R T I T S N E . C O M • 8 8 8 - 2 6 4 - 7 8 5 2 " H O W T H E ! @ # * C A N I T S O L U T I O N S P O W E R YO U R G R O W T H ? " ITS is dedicated to improving your IT system performance cost-effectively— and then keeping it running securely and safely, no matter what. Our senior management alone have 55 years of combined IBM Business Partner experience. So they can guide application migration, performance tuning and strategic deployment to give your business the best possible solution from your existing infrastructure, new hardware and the cloud. B E T T E R I N T E G R AT I O N , P E R F O R M A N C E & S U P P O R T I T S N E . C O M • 8 8 8 - 2 6 4 - 7 8 5 2 " H O W T H E e Bangor Daily News. e sale will not be fi nalized until orton obtains state and federal approval for his plans. L.L.Bean closes call center ahead of schedule L.L.Bean will be leaving its call cen- ter location in Bangor a month earlier than expected. L.L.Bean has been leasing 30,000-square-foot from the city since 2005 and provided nearly 200 jobs in addition to hundreds of others during the holiday season. L.L.Bean spokeswoman Carolyn Beem told e Bangor Daily News that roughly 80% of those employ- ees have found new jobs in other company call centers or have begun working from home. e decision to close the call center was announced in 2014 with reductions to facility overhead costs cited as the primary reason. e retailer initially leased the city-owned building for fi ve years at $19,375 a month, with options to renew the lease. N O T E W O R T H Y N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N Pulse Marketing Agency in Bangor moved to 34 Penn Plaza. Bangor Savings Bank announced that it has raised the minimum rate it pays employees to $13 per hour. The bank also opened a branch at 77 Middle St. in Portland to offer services previously offered at the bank's 280 Fore St. of- fi ce, which will now house administra- tive and business offi ces.

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