How self-driving cars will change recruitment

by in Recruitment

We live in a world where technology has a significant impact on our lives. Technology changes our habits, the way we communicate, spend our free time and even travel. It affects every single aspect of our lives. It tells us what we should eat, how well we sleep and how fast we walk. However, technology is not just used for personal purposes. Developing technology is considered a profitable business investment that has helped companies become more efficient. On the other hand, it is also a threatening factor for some employees, especially those in the manufacturing and warehousing sectors. Workers are worried about their jobs being replaced by robots and automated processes.

Automobility

It will not be long before you start seeing driverless cars on our roads that will take you wherever you want to go. The self-driving car will give you a lift to work, drop your kids off at school, pick you up from work, take you to the pub, take your child to after-school classes and anywhere else you or your family need to go. It’s going to be like having a personal taxi available anytime, day or night. You would be able to send it to your friend, or there might even be an option to rent it to Uber. This would give you the chance to earn some money when your car is not in use. But what about people who work as drivers and rely on jobs that require qualifications and driving skills? Will self-driving cars put a lot of jobs at risk? What jobs might be affected by autonomous vehicles?

car

Self-driving cars and employment

Transporting companies already invest a lot of money developing auto-mobility. To advance a driverless car evolution, software engineers and data analyst specialists are needed. This is because the world of autonomous technology is at the stage of testing sensors, analysing the results and collecting data from various scenarios that happen, or might happen, on the road. The next step is production on a large scale.

While driverless cars increase employment opportunities for IT professionals and technical engineers, uncertainty surrounds the need for taxi drivers. In terms of long-term consequences, this could also affect lorry, bus and delivery drivers.

Driverless vehicles and recruitment

And what do driverless cars mean for recruiters and the recruitment industry overall?

It will change the type of skills required in the transporting sector. This technological development will impact the requirements for certain jobs, for example, instead of seeking skills that come with driving experience and qualifications, there will be a demand for technical skills and people who know how to operate and navigate self-driving vehicles. It is expected that these cars will reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities. On the other hand, there are still people who have doubts as to whether fully autonomous cars will be able to make adjusted decisions depending on different road circumstances. However, safety is a high priory for the transport industry and it’s a big concern in self-driving cars for many companies working on autonomous development. A lot of testing and examination needs to be done for now.

Examining predictions, it is expected that in the future self-driving cars are going to be safer and reduce the number of crashes and accidents by 90%. This will impact auto body repair garages and mechanics and engineers working in this sector. Road infrastructures will also need to change. Our roads are built and adjusted to human drivers, including traffic lights and road signs, whereas autonomous cars will require roads with machine-readable signs.
Although we are still some way away from fully self-driving cars on our roads, it’s only a matter of time before it happens.

Self-driving cars might put a lot of current jobs in the transporting industry at risk. However, this doesn’t mean unemployment figures will rise. What it might bring is a shift of skills and requirements in this industry. At the same time, it might boost the need for other jobs and technology to be developed to make it more efficient and environmentally friendly.