Speaking Boost · B2 · Lesson 46 of 50
Speaking Boost B2 · Block 10: The Future and Final Review

What will employers look for in 2030?

Technology is changing jobs, and reports try to predict which skills will matter most. Learn to talk about plans, predictions and arrangements with the future forms, and to use present tenses after time words.

1

Warm-up

5 min
1.1

Work and skills

Answer each question with 2–3 sentences.

  1. What job would you like to have in ten years?
  2. Which skills do you use at work most?
  3. Do you think your job will exist in 2035?
  4. Are you learning anything new at the moment?
  5. How do you think AI will change work?
  6. Which skill do you want to improve?
2

Words and phrases

12 min
2.1

New words

Read each word and the example. Then say a sentence about your future work.

2.2

Which word?

Choose the word that fits.

  1. An ability to do something well, learned by practice, is a .
  2. A company or person who gives people jobs is an .
  3. The use of machines to do work that people did is called .
  4. All the people who work in a country are called its .
  5. Many workers will have to to do new kinds of work.
  6. A worker can change easily to new tasks.
  7. The ability to recover quickly from difficulties is called .
  8. A certificate or degree that shows you have studied something is a .
2.3

Opposites and pairs

Choose the right answer, then press Check answers.

  1. a skill is an ability that is
  2. an employer
  3. automation = using
  4. to retrain = to learn
  5. resilience = recovering quickly from
  6. remote =
2.4

Useful phrases

Use these phrases to talk about plans and predictions.

  • I'm going to...Я збираюся...I'm going to learn a new skill next year.
  • I'm meeting...Я зустрічаюся (за домовленістю)...I'm meeting a careers adviser on Friday.
  • I think... will...Я думаю, ... буде...I think automation will change many jobs.
  • As soon as I finish,...Щойно я закінчу,...As soon as I finish my course, I'll apply for jobs.
  • By the time...,До того часу, як...By the time I'm 40, the world will be different.
  • It's likely that...Імовірно, що...It's likely that remote work will grow.
  • I'll probably...Я, імовірно,...I'll probably change jobs at least once.
  • Unless I retrain,...Якщо я не перекваліфікуюся,...Unless I retrain, I may lose my job.
3

Read and react

8 min
3.1

Skills for 2030

Read the text. Hover over the dotted words for help.

What will employers look for in 2030?

What will employers look for in 2030? Nobody knows exactly, but several international reports try to predict it. One of the best known is the Future of Jobs report of the World Economic Forum, which asks hundreds of large companies what changes they expect.

According to these reports, employers say that analytical thinking and creativity will remain among the most important skills. They also expect more demand for technology skills, such as working with data and artificial intelligence, and for human qualities such as resilience, flexibility and curiosity. One recent edition estimated that around four in ten core skills would change by 2030, but this is an estimate, not a certainty.

Automation will take over some tasks, so many workers are going to need new skills. At the same time, new jobs will appear. Experts say that as soon as one kind of work disappears, another kind usually grows, although the change is not always easy for the people involved.

What can you do now? Careers advisers suggest that you should keep learning, practise working with other people and get used to new tools. When you finish one course, you will probably start another one. Lifelong learning will become normal.

The future of work is not completely decided. The choices we make today will help to shape it.

Which skill are you going to develop first?

3.2

True or false?

  1. The text says nobody can know the exact future.
  2. The reports ask a few small companies.
  3. Analytical thinking and creativity will remain important.
  4. One edition estimated that some core skills would change by 2030.
  5. The text says new jobs will not appear.
3.3

What do you think?

  1. Which jobs will probably disappear, and which will be created?
  2. Is a degree enough for a whole career?
  3. Who should pay for retraining: workers, employers or governments?
  4. Are soft skills more important than technical skills?
4

Grammar for speaking

10 min
4.1

Grammar for speaking

Will, going to, present continuous

Use will for predictions and quick decisions: I think automation will change jobs. Use going to for plans and for predictions with evidence: I'm going to learn a new skill. Use the present continuous for arrangements with a time: I'm meeting an adviser on Friday.

I'll probably change jobs. I'm going to retrain next year. Look at the clouds! It's going to rain. I'm meeting a careers adviser on Friday.

Future time clauses

After when, as soon as, before, after, until, once and by the time, use the present simple for the future. Do not use will there.

As soon as I finish my course, I'll apply for jobs. When I'm 40, the world will be different. I won't change my job until I find a better one.

Block 10 preview

Grammar you will use in this block.

future forms (L46) · future continuous and future perfect (L47) · narrative tenses and present perfect continuous (L48) · wishes, regrets and advice (L49) · Speaking Marathon (L50)

Common mistakes: will for predictions and decisions, going to for plans, present continuous for arrangements, and present simple after when / as soon as. ✗ When I will finish, I will call → When I finish, I'll call. ✗ I will meet him tomorrow at 5 (arranged) → I'm meeting him.

4.2

Choose the right form

  1. I think automation
    many jobs.
  2. I
    a new skill next year; I've already decided.
  3. I
    a careers adviser on Friday; it's in my diary.
  4. As soon as I
    my course, I'll apply for jobs.
  5. Look at those clouds! It
    rain.
  6. I
    my job until I find a better one.
  7. By the time I'm 40, the world
    different.
  8. Unless I retrain, I
    my job.
4.3

Fix the mistake

Each sentence has one mistake. Type the correct words.

  1. When I will finish, I will call you. →
  2. I will meet him tomorrow at five; we arranged it. →
  3. As soon as he will arrive, we will start. →
  4. Before I will leave, I'll lock the door. →
  5. Before I will apply, I will update my CV. →
  6. I'll call you when I will arrive. →
4.4

Talk about it

Answer in detail. Use will, going to, the present continuous and time clauses.

  1. What are you going to do next weekend?
  2. What do you think your job will be like in ten years?
  3. What are you doing tomorrow evening?
  4. What will you do as soon as this course finishes?
  5. What skills do you think will be the most important in 2030?
  6. What will you do if your job disappears?
5

Three views on future jobs and a short talk

8 min
5.1

Three views on future jobs

Three people talk about work in the future. Compare their views. Who is the most optimistic? Who is the most worried? What are you going to do to prepare?

Person 1

Ines, 29

  • Is a software developer
  • Is going to learn about AI
  • Thinks flexible workers will do well
  • Is meeting a mentor next week
Person 2

Mr Fox, 56

  • Has worked in a factory for thirty years
  • Is worried about automation
  • Is going to retrain as a technician
  • Says he will not retire early
Person 3

Dr Chen, 45

  • Is a career researcher
  • Says skills will change quickly
  • Advises lifelong learning
  • Warns that predictions can be wrong
5.2

Mini-talk: my future at work

Your teacher will time you.

  1. Plan for one minute, then speak for one or two minutes.
  2. Part 1: say what you are doing and going to do in the next months (plans and arrangements).
  3. Part 2: predict what work will be like in ten years (will).
  4. Part 3: say what you will do as soon as or before something happens (time clauses).
2:00
6

Personal questions

10 min
6.1

Part I: Me

  1. What are you doing this weekend?
  2. What are you going to do this year?
  3. Will you work in the same field in ten years?
  4. What will you do as soon as you finish this course?
  5. What new skill are you learning?
  6. Do you think you will work from home?
  7. How will you feel if your job is replaced by a machine?
  8. What do you hope to achieve before you are forty?
6.2

Part II: Other people

  1. Who will help you with your career?
  2. Who are you meeting soon?
  3. Who is going to visit you this year?
  4. Who in your family will retire soon?
  5. Who do you ask for career advice?
  6. Who will be the leader of your team in the future?
6.3

Part III: A bit deeper

  1. Will robots take our jobs?
  2. Will we work fewer hours in the future?
  3. Will school be useful in 2040?
  4. Will people change careers more often?
  5. Will humans always be better than AI at some things?
7

Roleplay

12 min
7.1

At a job interview

You

Candidate

An interviewer (your teacher) asks about your future plans:
  • say where you see yourself in five years
  • say what you are going to learn
  • say what you will do for the company
  • say what you are doing now to prepare
Speak for at least 2 minutes in total. Use future forms.
Your teacher

Interviewer

Says things like:
  1. Where do you see yourself in five years?
  2. What are you doing now?
  3. What are you going to learn?
  4. Why should we hire you?
7.2

Planning a career change

You

Speaker

A friend (your teacher) asks about your plan to change careers:
  • explain your plan
  • say what you are going to do first
  • say what will happen as soon as you finish
  • ask for advice
You do most of the talking. Use: I'm going to... · I'll... · As soon as... · I'm meeting...
Your teacher

Friend

Says things like:
  1. Are you sure?
  2. When are you starting?
  3. What if it doesn't work?
  4. Good luck!
8

Homework

at home

Your homework score

Do all four exercises, then press Check all homework. Correct answers will appear next to your mistakes.

– / 30
H1

Complete with a word

skillemployerautomationworkforceretrainflexibleresiliencequalification
  1. An ability to do something well, learned by practice, is a .
  2. A company or person who gives people jobs is an .
  3. The use of machines to do work that people did is called .
  4. All the people who work in a country are called its .
  5. Many workers will have to to do new kinds of work.
  6. A worker can change easily to new tasks.
  7. The ability to recover quickly from difficulties is called .
  8. A certificate or degree that shows you have studied something is a .
H2

Choose the correct form

  1. As soon as I home, I'll call you.
  2. I study medicine; I've decided.
  3. I my boss at ten; it's arranged.
  4. I think it sunny tomorrow.
  5. When she , we'll start.
  6. Look! He fall.
  7. I won't go until he .
  8. By the time we arrive, the film .
H3

Correct or incorrect?

Decide if each sentence is grammatically correct.

  1. As soon as I finish my course, I'll apply for jobs.
  2. As soon as I will finish my course, I'll apply for jobs.
  3. I'm meeting a careers adviser on Friday.
  4. I will meet him tomorrow at five; we arranged it.
  5. I'm going to learn a new skill next year.
  6. Before I will apply, I will update my CV.
  7. Unless I retrain, I may lose my job.
H4

Match the two halves

  1. I'm going to
  2. I'm meeting
  3. I think automation
  4. As soon as I finish,
  5. By the time I'm 40,
  6. It's likely that
  7. Unless I retrain,

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© Yevheniia Kolesnykova, Academy of Languages. All rights reserved. No copying or reuse without written permission.