Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce (McKinsey)

McKinsey has a very interesting ongoing research on the impact of technology on the economy, business, and society: A future that works: Automation, employment, and productivity. Recently they published an study focused on skill shifts, changes that have accompanied the introduction of new technologies in the workplace since at least the Industrial Revolution. The issue is this shifts are acceleration with the adoption of automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the need for new skills (technological, social, emotional…) is rising exponentially.

This briefing is based on 25 core workplace skills today and in the future for five European countries — France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom — and the United States and examines the implications of those shifts. Here are some of the highlights:

• All technological skills, both advanced and basic, will see a substantial growth in demand. Advanced technologies require people who understand how they work and can innovate, develop, and adapt them.
• Accompanying the adoption of advanced technologies into the workplace will be an increase in the need for workers with finely tuned social and emotional skills — skills that machines are a long way from mastering.
• About 77 percent of the respondents in our survey expect no net change in the size of their workforces in either Europe or the United States as a result of adopting automation and AI technologies. Indeed, more than 17 percent expect their workforces on both sides of the Atlantic to grow.
• A key to companies’ future success will be in providing continuous learning options and instilling a culture of lifelong learning throughout the organization. In our survey, this cultural change was ranked by companies across most sectors as the change most needed for developing the workforce of the future.
• Basic organizational setup will change, with a strong shift toward cross-functional and team-based work and an emphasis on agility.
• More work will be done by freelancers and other contractors, a shift that will boost the emerging “gig” or “sharing” economy.
• Companies will need to choose from the following five main types of action as they build their future workforce: retraining, redeployment, hiring, contracting or releasing.

Very interesting the deep look they do in five sectors: Banking and insurance, Energy and mining; Healthcare, Manufacturing and Retail. If you want to read and download the whole report, you can do it using this link.

#365daysof #futurism #skills #talent #day139