Robotics in the timetable: Ready for the working world of the future?
Whether smartphones or smart apps: new technologies make our lives easier every day - and are playing an ever greater role in our everyday working lives. But will future generations be adequately prepared for this new world?
The majority of Germans say no, according to a representative survey conducted by the opinion research institute Civey on behalf of KUKA. 76.7% believe that children are not adequately prepared at school for a working world with new technologies - in the age group between 18 and 29, the figure is even more than 95% of respondents. The clear majority of respondents are convinced that new technologies represent a major opportunity for high-wage countries like Germany. Particularly in focus: robotics.
70.6% of Germans believe that robotics will have an impact on the everyday working lives of employees in all industries and sectors in the future. Today, we already find automation outside the traditional areas such as automotive: robots grind knives, serve coffee, stack milk packages in cold stores or support carpenters in the workshop.
Automated helpers are becoming more flexible in their use and more intuitive, thanks in part to increasingly sophisticated software. This trend is also confirmed by the latest figures from the international robotics association IFR: More than 517,000 new industrial robots were installed in factories worldwide in 2021, 31% more than in the previous year. The stock of operational robots around the globe reached a new record of about 3.5 million.
New technologies offer great opportunities - with the right talent behind them
In order to fully exploit the great potential of new technologies, young talents need to be given the right tools at an early stage - the respondents of the Future Survey also see it that way. 56.9% would be in favor of a greater focus on technologies such as robotics or artificial intelligence in school curricula.
But young people also need to discover a desire for careers involving math, computer science, natural sciences and engineering away from grades and exams - this is the only way to attract young technology talent in the long term. Here, too, schools and educational institutions still have room for improvement, according to 68.5% of those surveyed. Young people between the ages of 18 and 29 take a particularly critical view, with 84.4% of them saying this.
New technologies are changing the working world of future generations. Awakening fascination for this and discovering new perspectives and occupational fields is an important first step for talented young people in shaping their own careers.
Initiatives such as the Bavarian Business School's Women Researchers Camp show what this can look like. Here, female students aged 15 and older immerse themselves in the world of technical professions and slip into the role of a start-up. At the host company KUKA, the participants received an introduction to new technologies and learned how robots could help protect the environment.
