The first half of this decade has marked a particularly disruptive period in modern human history. The return to a “new normal” following the COVID-19 pandemic was soon disrupted by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, catalysing a new set of crises in food and energy across the world. In 2023, the world is seeing the return of a set of familiar risks in the form of inflation, cost of living crises, wars, and increasing geopolitical tensions. However, these risks are being amplified by emergent developments in the global security landscape, such as the growing pressures of climate change, the development of disruptive technologies, reversals in human development, and unsustainable levels of debt. Together these risks, both familiar and unprecedented, are converging to shape a unique and uncertain decade ahead.
This collective experience of growing complexity and uncertainty has a name – the ‘polycrisis’. The term polycrisis refers to the idea that a cluster of related global risks can interact with each in a compounding manner which results in the overall impact of the polycrisis exceeding the impact of any single crisis. This careers event will explore the career challenges and opportunities of the polycrisis and discuss how students can build their career in an age of growing complexity. Students will hear from a panel of expert speakers from different sectors of society about how to manage the uncertainty they are experiencing as well as be able to pose questions about career advice and the KAS-SAIIA scholarship for 2024. The speakers will also share some of the lessons they learned in their personal career paths and give students important insights into preparing for the future world of work.