Has anyone heard this spine-chilling question, “What if your job was outsourced or if a machine took over what you were doing for years?”

Would you immediately start looking out for a similar job or give up your many years of experience and seniority and learn new skills that are more relevant to the job market?

When someone said “outsource” earlier, it conjured up in the mind a group of people sitting in cubicles somewhere and speaking in an American Midwest accent trying to solve your banking problems.

But in today’s turbulent times it seems that everyone is outsourcing work. I heard our cook on the phone telling some poor hungry soul looking forward to a long weekend with friends, that she was busy the coming Thursday and would send her friend who is also a good cook for the party preparations.

“You cannot do everything yourself,” said a friend, when I told her that I would like to start a blog. “Outsource the design work. I know an SEO guy,” she said. “Search Engine Optimisation,” she said, when I looked shocked, thinking it was a short form of a swear word.

Everybody who deals with words and storytelling has to now bow down to Google and Facebook, who decide whether what you write should be found easily online. They want you to use certain phrases and words that catch the eye of the scanning bots, or robots.

“What do I do then?” I asked.

“You provide the content and rope in the client,” she said.

“I don’t know anything about providing content. I have been a reporter all these years and know nothing else but how to write,” I said. “I just want some readers who will enjoy my writing, and want nothing to do with clients,” I said.

She looked at me strangely and said, “We will have to package this properly. Everybody today is an expert and an editor. What is your USP [unique selling point]?”

She is right, I thought to myself, what if nobody is interested in reading anymore and do not want words but only pictures and graphics to explain things like Brexit or Trump? That transition to fewer words began a couple of years ago.

“You will have to learn to tell a story in various ways,” said one expert who came from across the ocean to give a refresher course. “People have a very short attention span today, shorter than a goldfish’s,” he said.

Earlier, you could hold a reader’s attention for 12 seconds, but now it has dropped to eight, a second less than a silly fish. Instead of writing 1,000 words, make a short list. Everyone loves lists: the five things you should do every morning, or 10 things to improve your financial condition, he said.

“It’s too late for me to learn anything new,” I panicked. Then I read that with all that automation there was still the human touch required in the services sector.

“Maybe I can study to be a barista,” I thought. I had liked the way the server slowly poured milk on my coffee and a palm tree took shape at the frothy top of the cup. I enjoyed the fragrance of the coffee as I sipped and watched a video on my smartphone. “I can shoot videos and my USP would be videos shot with a GoPro as I jumped off buildings in Dubai.”

“We need something that resonates with people,” she said.

“People don’t have much time. We have a short window of opportunity at lunchtime and after midnight when people are relaxing with their phones. Can you jump into an aquarium with sharks with your camera strapped on?” she asked. “You can purchase water-proof cameras at Dragon Mart.”

Mahmood Saberi is a freelance journalist based in Dubai. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ mahmood_saberi.