Axios reports that a new report from the World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting concludes that “some 1.4 million Americans will lose their jobs to technological change in the next eight years, including 70 percent whose job type will just disappear. Without new skills, according to the report, 575,000 of them — 41% — will have either minuscule or no chance of finding other work. Women may be disproportionately affected.”
Additional conclusions from the report:
• “Even if they do find work using their current skills, many will on average earn $8,600 less per year. These are the people who must start thinking now about what their next career might be.”
• “74% of executives say they plan to use artificial intelligence to automate tasks in their workplace the next three years, and 47% say skills shortages are a key rationale … Yet only 3% intend to significantly increase investments in training in the same time period.”
There is a chart that breaks out the changes by industry and demographics that you can read here.
Additional conclusions from the report:
• “Even if they do find work using their current skills, many will on average earn $8,600 less per year. These are the people who must start thinking now about what their next career might be.”
• “74% of executives say they plan to use artificial intelligence to automate tasks in their workplace the next three years, and 47% say skills shortages are a key rationale … Yet only 3% intend to significantly increase investments in training in the same time period.”
There is a chart that breaks out the changes by industry and demographics that you can read here.
- KC's View:
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Scary stuff.
It is interesting to see that only three percent of executives plan to increase their training investments, especially in the context of our earlier story about companies adopting family-friendly policies.
It seems to me that these things all are of a piece … companies have to create innovative products and services by fostering s culture of innovation within the organization, and they do that in part by investing in employees and helping them adapt to new realities.
The days when a CEO could come into a company with a sledge hammer and simply pound things into shape are over. A friend of mine recently said something incredibly smart - that wise organizations know that they need to be led by people who know how to stitch together all these various facets, as opposed to pounding away at them.
That includes understanding and embracing technology, but also seeing the value of the human element. Emotional intelligence that connects with customer needs in fundamental ways is incredibly important … and great leaders will know how to integrate that even into organizations that are being transformed by technology.
