With emerging global trends pointing to artificial intelligence and ‘green jobs’ as main drivers of future employment growth, Cayman must look to diversify workforce prospects or risk getting left behind.
This warning came from Reinaldo Fletcher, manager of the Labour Market Demand Unit at Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC), who said that for Caymanians to be “globally competitive” they must position themselves to pursue opportunities in areas such as artificial intelligence, which are outside of the traditional fields being offered locally.
“The growth of the use of [AI] technology has really accelerated in recent times and it’s getting more powerful every day,” Fletcher told the Compass.
The World Economic Forum’s Future Jobs Report 2023 found that big data, cloud computing and AI feature near the top of the list of technology that companies expect to adopt, with approximately 75% of them looking to do so in the next five years.
“The data also shows the impact of the digitalization of commerce and trade, with platforms and apps likely to be adopted by 86% of companies and e-commerce and digital trade likely to be adopted by 75% of businesses. The second ranked technology is education and workforce technologies, with 81% of companies looking to adopt this technology by 2027,” the report said.
When it comes to future jobs, it said, “big data analytics, climate change and environmental management technologies, and encryption and cybersecurity are expected to be the biggest drivers of job growth”.
Coupled with this, according to the report, “Agriculture technologies, digital platforms and apps, e-commerce and digital trade, and AI are all expected to result in significant labour market disruption, with substantial proportions of companies forecasting job displacement in their organizations, offset by job growth elsewhere to result in a net positive.”
What lies ahead
While Fletcher said industries like tourism, financial services and construction look set to remain mainstays locally for the foreseeable future, there is scope for young Caymanians to be at the forefront of global careers like that of generative AI, which is set to expand.
He added that AI is anticipated to have a “big impact” on both the number and types of jobs because it “clearly will make some roles probably redundant [and] other roles will become more prevalent”.
The World Economic Forum report projects that “demand for AI and Machine Learning Specialists is expected to grow by 40%, or 1 million jobs, as the usage of AI and machine learning drives continued industry transformation”.
Businesses will turn to adopting more technology, based on feedback from those surveyed in the report.
Fletcher said even in the absence of local data on AI employment opportunities, jobseekers should be working to captalise on the projected surge in future jobs, but Cayman must first understand AI and plan for it.
For this to happen, he said, there is a need for information, “Whether it’s hardcore data or by forming partnerships with different industry players to see what the needs will be, what skill sets will be.”
Recent conferences, such as the RF Economic Outlook forum, have focused on AI use and what its likely impacts will be.
Silicon Valley innovator Kevin Surace, speaking at that conference, painted a picture of what the misuse of AI could mean and what AI regulations are to be put in place.
Fletcher said he and his team are tasked with keeping pace with job market trends both locally and globally.
The government’s thinking, he said, is to really use a “data-driven approach to determine the labour needs of the Cayman Islands so that they can appropriately and strategically… train and develop Caymanians to be… globally competitive”.
This includes forming partnership within the education sector and encouraging programmes to assist Caymanians in being prepared to seize job opportunities.
According to the report, the five-fastest growing jobs over the next five years, which will be driven by technology, digitalisation and sustainability, are projected to be AI and machine learning specialists, sustainability specialists, business intelligence analysts and information security analysts. Fletcher added FinTech engineers to that list.
At the same time, “the top five declining roles are bank tellers and related clerks, postal service clerks, cashiers and ticket clerks, data entry clerks, administrative and executive secretaries”, Fletcher said.
He said the global report, which surveyed 803 companies in 45 countries, also found that skills like creative and analytical thinking, technological literacy, curiosity and lifelong learning, and resilience are on the rise.
Cayman, he said, has to swim with this tide in order to get the most out of the opportunities.
“We are aware of the increasing use of AI. It will have an impact on jobs and we definitely have to prepare for it through [industry] partnerships locally and using information both local and globally to inform, for example, the Ministry of Education and other important public education institutions like UCCI… of these trends,” he said.
He added that Cayman has a lot of global institutions operating locally that may already be incorporating some AI-led roles, and there are job opportunities for Caymanians in these fields.
Local trends
Based on the research, through his unit’s job summary reports, Fletcher said jobs that tend to dominate the higher end of the income scale locally are in IT, healthcare, legal and financial services, or actuarial fields.
Noting the impact of climate change, he said that, in Cayman, he expects “positions relating to environmental sustainability will become significant in the future”.
Cayman’s aging population will increase demand for certain healthcare services while financial services will continue to dominate, along with associated industries like legal, accounting and insurance, he added.
Pointing to the projected impact of AI, Fletcher said parents will have to ensure their children are technologically literate, with strong data analyst skills to compete for well-paid jobs.
Job summary reports produced by Fletcher’s unit have consistently highlighted construction jobs as the top postings on the government employment portal.
He therefore advised parents and students to take a closer look at construction-related careers, like architecture and engineering.
Fletcher’s message to jobseekers and students was clear: “It is important to be globally competitive in whatever you’re doing.”
He added, “You have to educate, whether you are going through the academic route or vocational, because there is a great demand for skills. You have to be globally certified. That’s very important to be competitive. That will not guarantee you [a better income], but that will enable you to earn a better income which will lead to ultimately having a better quality of life.”
He said attitude and drive are also key factors to success.
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