Future of Work: Why Robots Won’t Take All The Jobs

There is a lot of noise at the moment about ‘the rise of the robots’ – how technology and automation will ‘take all our jobs’. In fact, the same statements have been said for decades, so this isn’t new. We are, however, in more concerning times as the rate of technology innovation, development and adoption in the workplace is faster than ever.

That said, it’s important to understand that the increase in use of technology and automation in the workplace does not mean fewer jobs. Sure, tech might replace many manual or process heavy jobs. But it doesn’t mean there will be a short supply of jobs. It simply means there will be different jobs created. There will be a greater variety of jobs demanding niche skills, or specific blends of skills, and they will be in very short supply, creating a great mismatch between labour supply and talent / skills demand.

With the increasing skills gap, organisations will need to focus more on learning and development, training and internal mobility. There will be an increase in the use of freelance talent pools, like Upwork (the new company born out of the merger between Elance & oDesk) to plug those gaps. And that might not just be a short term solution – it may even become the norm for employers.

Using services such as Upwork comes with the added benefit of giving employees what is consistently present in the top three decision factors of employer / job choice; flexibility and work-life balance – letting people work how, when and where they want to.

So, what should employers seriously start thinking about?

• Employers will need to offer the training and development to help their current workforce diversify their skills to meet the future labour demands.
• To ensure they keep good talent, employers will need to offer enhanced internal mobility – not only making it easy for employees to find their next job, but helping them plan their career, find the right training, speak to the right people and know the right process to follow
• The offer to employees, and prospective employees, will need to encompass the commonly saught-after requirements of flexibility and work-life balance. If employers do not offer a satisfactory degree of these elements, they may find themselves back in the dark ages.