What Is the Future of Work?
New technology is changing the future of work with unprecedented speed and intensity, driving the reinvention of our lives and economy. Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning push the frontier of what machines can do, making use of huge increases in ever-cheaper computing power and exponential growth in the data that’s available to train them.
These newer generations of more capable autonomous systems can perform a range of routine activities faster and more cheaply than humans. They are also increasingly capable of accomplishing activities that involve cognitive capabilities such as making judgments or sensing emotion. As a result, innovative companies are using them to augment the human workforce.
By adopting such systems, these companies are helping their workforce become more productive over time, and more able to redirect their focus to critical tasks. But how quickly will the use of these advanced technologies become a reality across every workplace and what kind of skills gaps will this create? What should businesses do now to help prepare and upskill their workforce? And, given the intense competition expected for people with these new skills, how can organizations best position themselves to win the war for talent?
AI’s role in the future of work
AI-powered systems can help businesses improve performance by reducing errors and improving quality and speed. In many cases, they can also boost productivity in a way that goes far beyond human capabilities.
Healthcare providers, for example, benefit from AI systems that analyze massive amounts of unstructured data and produce predictive diagnoses to help detect issues before they become a serious health risk. In capital-intensive industries such as manufacturing, AI-powered machines can eliminate faults and idle equipment.
Such developments have the potential to bring substantial benefits to businesses and economies worldwide. Research from Accenture, for example, suggests that AI could boost economic value by $14 trillion across certain industries in terms of ‘gross value added,’ a close approximation of GDP that accounts for the value of goods and services produced in a certain sector.
At the same time, once the adoption of AI and automation becomes more widespread, businesses will need to grapple with some challenging workforce transitions. We’ll see machines carrying out more of the tasks currently done by humans, for example, complementing the work they do but also displacing some workers.
However, research shows that the fear of robots taking over is misplaced. Instead, growth in demand for work will continue, and consequently, in jobs for humans. McKinsey developed scenarios for labor demand to 2030 , based on various catalysts of ; it for work, such as productivity growth and rising incomes, as well as factors such as demographic trends that will lead to increased spending on healthcare.
These scenarios showed a range of additional labor demand of between 21% to 33% of the global workforce (between 555 million and 890 million jobs) to 2030. “This more than offsets the number of jobs lost, which in our midpoint scenario was 15% of the global workforce or 400 million workers,” says James Manyika, Chairman, and Director of the McKinsey Global Institute. “So, there will be ‘jobs gained’ as well as ‘jobs lost.’”
How will jobs and skill sets change?
More than three-quarters of hiring managers expect a growing need for skills in data analysis, data science, and software development. But to thrive in the AI-driven future of work, companies will also need employees who can quickly acquire completely new skills, such as how to adapt to and collaborate with the increasingly capable machines alongside them in the workplace. They may also have to move from declining occupations to growing and (in some cases) entirely new ones.
