Why It Is Critical to Prepare Now for The Jobs of Tomorrow

It used to be that the most profound changes in business were best described in futuristic narratives of science fiction authors and film producers. Now, they are apparently detailed in short-term economic reports.

The World Economic Forum’s annual Future of Jobs report does just that, painting a clear picture of what businesses leaders can expect to see by the year 2022. More importantly, it provides a cautionary outlook to anyone who believes jobs and businesses today are safe in the near future. 

From the start, the report indicates that half of all businesses say they expect to reduce their workforce by 2022 due to improvements in technology, with as many as 75 million jobs being replaced with automation, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). There are several major drivers to what the report calls this “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” which include:

• Increased global availability of high-speed mobile internet
• Increased effectiveness and adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Continued adoption and application of data analytics in the decision-making process
• Adoption of AI, augmented and virtual reality
• Increased effectiveness and adoption of cloud technology

Of course, technology alone will not fuel this continued change. Just as important are a variety of important socio-economic trends that continue to influence business.

These include mainly the impact of increased access to and expansion of education in the middle classes and developing economies that technology provides. Also, the expanding understanding and adoption of green technologies, which will shape the future of many industries.

Other important statistics that business leaders need to consider include:

• 85 percent of companies are expected to expand adoption of user and organizational data analytics in decision making process.
  Impact: Data analytics will be a profoundly important set of skills for anyone expecting to manage a business.
  
• 37 to 23 percent of companies, depending on the industry, plan on investing in robotics and automation. 
• In 2018, the mix of tasks performed by humans versus that performed by machines was 71 percent to 29 percent, respectively.
  By 2022, this mix is expected to be 58 percent and 42 percent, respectively.
  Impact: Displacement, reallocating and retraining of workforces and professions will completely disrupt the workforce mix.

Continue Reading