“If more and more of working life is moving onto screens, then what cannot be done from behind a screen becomes increasingly valuable,” says Berthe Miller, Head of Low-Voltage Installation at Forus, in an opinion article originally published by Äripäev’s Personaliuudised portal. “At graduation time, when many young people are choosing their future field of study, technical work deserves a closer look — it is a field where technological development does not remove the human role, but makes it more important.”
The rapid development of artificial intelligence has made many people ask which jobs will be secure in the future. This question is especially relevant now, when schools are celebrating graduations and many young people are deciding what to study next. Should they go to university or vocational school? Should they choose a field that feels interesting today, or think about what kind of work will still be needed in ten or twenty years? It is not an easy decision at a time when technological development is rapidly changing many professions.
Technology does not start working by itself
From Forus’ point of view, this is not just a theoretical discussion about the future of work. Our everyday work takes place in buildings and on sites where technology has to function in the real world. Access control systems, alarm systems, video surveillance, fire safety solutions, automation and other technical systems are not just lines in a project or devices sitting in a warehouse. They need to be installed, connected, configured, tested and later maintained. Artificial intelligence alone cannot do that. Someone has to go on site, understand the specifics of a particular building, find a practical solution and take responsibility for making sure the system works when it is actually needed.
Technical work is not going anywhere, because the physical world does not run on software alone. A building may be smart, but it does not build, configure or maintain itself. A security system may be highly advanced, but it is only useful if it has been installed correctly and works in real-life situations. Automation can control lighting, ventilation or access, but someone has to understand how these systems work together. The smarter buildings become, the more we need people who know how to apply technology in practice.
Technical work is not going anywhere, because the physical world does not run on software alone.
At Forus, we see this every day. A technician is not simply someone who “comes and installs”. A technician is a problem-solver. They need to read the situation, not just the drawing. They need to understand the client’s needs, the specifics of the site, the logic of the system, safety requirements and often also how to find the best solution within the given time and budget.
On one site, the job may involve an old building where every wall and ceiling hides a surprise. On another day, it may be a new commercial building where access control, alarm systems, fire safety, automation and digital solutions all have to work together. Sometimes the work is very practical. Sometimes it feels like technical detective work: you have to understand where the fault is, why the signal is not moving, why the device is not communicating or why the solution is not behaving as it should. That is one of the strongest sides of this work: every site is its own puzzle.
Very often, the real situation only becomes clear on site. A drawing may say one thing, but an old wall, the client’s request or existing cabling may say something else. In that case, following instructions is not enough. You need to understand the goal, the limitations and how to make the solution work in a way that is simple for the user and reliable in practice.
The same trend is confirmed by OSKA’s real estate services sector study, according to which the need for technical systems technicians will grow over the next decade. There are several reasons for this: the number of buildings and sites requiring maintenance is increasing, maintenance requirements are becoming stricter, and the systems themselves are becoming more diverse and complex. Technicians are increasingly expected to understand digital control systems, energy efficiency, integrated technical systems, and fire safety and electrical requirements. In other words, installation skills alone are no longer enough — technicians also need to understand how different systems work together.
A technical field is not a fallback option
For a young person who is currently thinking about what to study or which field to enter, this is an important point. A technical field is not a fallback option for those who do not want an office job. It is a future-oriented field where practical skills and the ability to think go hand in hand. It needs people who want to understand how things work, who are not afraid to get hands-on and who like seeing the real result of their work.
In this profession, you are learning all the time. Technology does not stand still, and neither can a technician. New devices, new systems, new requirements and new solutions are constantly emerging. That may sound demanding, but it is exactly what makes the work interesting. If you like developing yourself, asking “why?”, testing, solving problems and seeing something start working because of your contribution, technical work is a very good place to grow.
The smartest system is useless if there is no one who knows how to install it, maintain it and keep it running.
There is also plenty of room to develop in this field. Starting as a technician does not mean staying in the same position for life. It can be the beginning of many different paths. You can specialise in security systems, low-voltage systems, automation, maintenance or project management. You can move on to team leadership, technical planning or designing client solutions. The strongest foundation is practical experience — an understanding of how solutions work in real life. That experience cannot be gained only from a book or a computer screen.
We need people who can think and do
The value of technical work lies in the fact that it combines mind and hands. You need to think, but you also need to act. You need to understand the system, but also know how to use tools. You need to communicate with the client, but also stay calm and find the fault when something is not working.
AI can be helpful in all of this. It can help search for information, organise documentation, analyse data or make work processes faster. But it cannot replace the person standing on site, assessing the situation and finding a solution.
The smartest system is useless if there is no one who knows how to install it, maintain it and keep it running. That is why technical work clearly belongs not to the past, but to the future. Buildings are becoming smarter, requirements stricter and clients more aware. The more technology surrounds us, the more important it becomes to have people who know how to make it work in practice.
***
There are around one hundred technicians, maintenance specialists and technical managers with different areas of specialisation working at Forus. In our team, you can put your skills to use in the installation and maintenance of low-voltage systems, as an electrician, or as an installer or maintenance specialist for heating, ventilation and cooling systems. Read more about the opportunities at Forus and apply to join us today.
The opinion article was originally published in Äripäev’s Personaliuudised portal.
