To a large extent, the public discussion over the future of work has followed a storyline that says technology and globalization are coming to whisk your job away. Artificial intelligence threatens to make many professions obsolete. About 47% of the U.S. workforce is in jobs at high risk for becoming automated within the next two decades, according to the 2013 Oxford University study. 

    On the bright side, experts believe that although technology would displace certain kinds of work, it would also free us up from drudgery, leading us to invent new kinds of work. But they also conclude that while some highly skilled workers would triumph in the new work order, others would be forced into lower-paid jobs or suffer permanent unemployment. The real issue remains: whether our educational system is adequately preparing us for work of the future, and right now it seems that our political and economic institutions are poorly equipped to handle these hard choices.     

    What is happening now rings the alarm bell on looming “mass structural unemployment” in the U.S. as a result of technology, globalization, longevity and an educational system that has failed to keep pace. Experts urge that society must do more to prepare for change. Then who should be responsible for such preparation? In addition to governments, corporations can play a very significant role. Businesses have the greatest visibility as to how jobs are changing. If they can’t fill jobs, and that is a problem today, they have a real need in terms of day-to-day business. Besides, corporations have great resources for talent and human capital development to provide skills needed.

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       When little children get hurt, the first thing they usually ask for is a Band-Aid to make their wounds feel better. However, have you ever wondered what people used to cover wounds before Band-Aids were invented? Band-Aids have only been around since the 1920s, but people have been getting hurt for much longer than that. How people treated their wounds in the past may come as a surprise. In addition to cloth bandages, people often covered and cured their wounds with cobwebs.

       Cobwebs are made by members of the spider family called Theridiidae. These spiders do not spin typical webs that look like concentric polygons. Instead, these spiders spin a random, sticky, crisscrossed net in which they trap their prey. Most people associate cobwebs with a messy house mainly because of the dust that gathers on the adhesive strands of cobwebs. Yet, although it might appear untidy, the presence of cobwebs does not suggest an unhealthy space. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Many types of cobwebs are laced with penicillin, fungi that contain antibiotic properties. Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, came across the fungi when working with a colleague’s cobweb collection.

      When the cobwebs containing penicillin came into contact with some bacteria samples, the growth of the bacteria was stopped, and the bacteria samples died. The discovery of penicillin for use as an antibiotic changed the face of modern medicine because it helped treat many serious diseases. That explains why cobweb bandages were known for generations as a medical cure. Not only did the webbing help to coagulate the liquid on the wound, but it also contained penicillin, a powerful antibiotic that aided in the healing process. By using cobwebs to cover wounds, people with injuries were using antibiotics without even realizing it.

       Cobwebs appear in the stories of many cultures. These days, cobwebs are used as spooky decorations in Halloween scenes or bring a sense of frustration during people’s spring-cleaning. Next time, when you reach up to clean a dusty crevice, try not to feel frustrated but remember such a medical treasure tangled in your broom.