Engaging with the First Jobbers of 2030

This week's post is about my hilarious robot-related adventures in engaging with the 2030 first jobbers...

Ran my first 'Play With Robots' session at daughters nursery yesterday...fascinating to see ten 3&4yr olds interacting and playing with robots and Alexa. It was hilarious and here are my 3 key observations: 

1) I was surprised by how already at 3 that technology and robots already seen as boys stuff. They all at first thought that the robots were boys... but by the end they were saying robots could be girls as well. And? We need to make technology an inclusive topic right from the toddler toys we choose.

2) They loved seeing and dancing with the robots but all said they would want a real person living with them at home. Loved 4 yr old E's reply: "people are better than robots at cuddles because a robot will punch you by accident" Loved the fact half the kids midway through were more interested in playing with the robot jigsaw puzzle. And? We need to ensure tech isn't force-fed so that it switches kids off. 

3) They were so clued up about what makes a robot different from humans; with the main differentiator? Best defined by 3 yr old J: "Robots don't have teeth".  Wonderful stuff that created a great platform to talk about what makes people so great to be friends with in real life etc.

These gorgeous kids will enter the workplace as young adults in 2030: who can predict what will be required of them in their first job? I'm thinking that an interest in technology as an enabler to help people be more human is probably a good place to start?

P.S. the robots are coming… And we are probably the last generation who get to make these first choices in how we use tech in our work and home.

Laura Thomson-Staveley is founder and leadership coach at Phenomenal Training and co-host of Secrets from A Coach podcast. For more information visit: phenomenaltraining.com and secretsfromacoach.com