their upskilling efforts in a cost-effective manner through
live videos, social sharing and personalised platforms.
With as many as 375 million employees (14% of the global
workforce) needing to switch roles by 2030, the need for
reskilling is only going to rise. As automation and robotics
adoption rises, as many as 14% of the global workforce
will need to switch roles by 2030. The 2020 pandemic
has made the need to address these skills imbalances
more urgent. Across the globe industries had to adapt to
a new way of working, switching millions of workers to a
remote working model almost overnight in a move that
many believed would cause too much pressure. Roles
have changed, new skills have been identified and training
programmes initiated to ensure companies can stay afloat,
jobs would remain and the economy weathers the strain of
lockdown.
As we navigate through the new world of work landscape,
it is becoming more apparent that moving away from a
single skill set workforce towards a multi-skilled workforce
focused on the nurturing of transferable skill sets will be
key to overcome similar disasters in the future.
4. The new demographic mix
Populations are ageing and the workforce is shrinking
in many countries, leading to talent shortages. Prior to
COVID-19, individuals were choosing to work in retirement,
often flexibly. For the first time ever, organisations
needed to accommodate up to four generations in the
same workforce, each with different requirements and
expectations. From 2020, millennials will comprise 50%
of the global workforce. They have different expectations
of work and their employers', placing more emphasis on
variety, flexibility and social purpose. They are more likely
to approach their career as a portfolio of projects, rather
than as a linear series of long-term jobs.
Inclusion is good for business; companies with more
diverse management teams have 19% higher revenues.
Globally, 60% of workers are in the informal economy , the
part of any economy that is neither taxed nor monitored
by any form of Government. They are less likely to be able
to work remotely and more likely to be without a financial
safety net. They risk their health if they continue to work
and their financial wellbeing if they don’t. Women make up
the majority of frontline healthcare workers, giving them
greater exposure to the virus, are more likely to work parttime
and more likely to take on the burden of childcare
when schools are closed. BAME groups meanwhile,
appear to be at greater risk of severe health problems and
are also less likely to be able to work from home and more
likely to work in the gig economy.
the needs of the individual. Virtual work can also give less
confident or less dominant personalities a greater chance
to have their contributions seen and valued. It can also
emphasize a wider variety of skills, including listening skills
and supportiveness, for example. Inclusion and diversity
will make companies more resilient and creative, and
leaders have an unprecedented opportunity to advance
those agendas now, in a way that would not be possible
under ‘business as usual’. The decisions made now will
make long-term differences to how our economies work.
We should not waste the opportunity.
5. Automation, AI & machine learning
The pace of change in digital transformation is exponential.
How we embrace such advancements, or simply even
how we integrate them into our everyday lives, is a key
differentiator in how we prepare now to be future ready.
Developments in previously disjointed fields such as
AI and machine learning, robotics and nanotechnology
are all building on and amplifying one another. Smart
systems; homes, factories, even entire cities, will help
tackle problems ranging from supply chain management to
climate change.
The comfort level on the adoption of AI has increased
overnight. One of those is the shift to AI and automation.
In a 2017 report, management consultancy McKinsey
suggested that a third of US jobs would be replaced
by automation by 2030 but that timetable might
have accelerated by the lockdown in recent months.
Automation, AI and machine learning technologies have
helped mitigate many of the impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic, allowing organisations to continue to provide
their services as they transform the way they operate.
As whole industries adjust and new ones are born, many
occupations will undergo a fundamental transformation.
Together, these changes between them will generate new
categories of jobs and occupations while partly or wholly
displacing others. Those that have already adopted a new
AI focused approach may normalise automation within
operations as the world begins to open up to retain the
streamlined, and in some ways, cost effective model.
As vulnerable groups decide to continue shielding efforts,
even if a little relaxed, millions of workers could leave the
workforce taking with them vital skills and knowledge.
Industries primarily made up of low skilled roles may have
a drawn-out struggle to prosperity combined with the end
of the furlough scheme, resulting in further redundancies
to the ones already seen.
This period is an opportunity for transformation, in which
work can be remote and flexible, with jobs adapted to