Seven Techniques for Future-Proofing Your Workforce
Future proofing your workforce is essential for survival in almost every industry. Here are nine facts about why technology will eliminate jobs in your company. But don’t worry, I will leave you with seven strategies that you can use to future-proof your workforce.
The data show that artificial intelligence, advanced engineering, 3D printing, robotic process automation, and the digitization of everything will radically transform the face of labor in the global workforce.
These statistics will make you think twice about job security, the skills your company needs to grow, and what you can do to prepare your workforce.
Fact #1: U.S. Workers Know their Job will be Eliminated
- A 2017 Gallup poll found, “about one in four U.S. workers (26%) say it is at least somewhat likely that their job will be eliminated by new technology, automation, artificial intelligence or robots within the next 20 years. About one in eight workers (13%) say this will happen within the next five years.”
Fact #2: Nearly Half of U.S. Jobs Are Highly Likely to Become Computerized
- A 2013 study from the Oxford Martin School predicted that as much as 47% of US jobs were highly likely to become computerized between 2020-2030.
Fact #3: Artificial Intelligence Kicks Human Butt
- IBM’s Watson has already demonstrated a more accurate lung cancer diagnosis rate than humans (90% vs. 50%).
Fact #4: Humans Are Old…Who Needs Them!?!?
- By 2035 1 in 5 people (20% of the population) will be 65 or older.
Fact #5: No Talent, No Growth
- “Nearly half of U.S. and German companies in a BCG survey cited the lack of qualified employees as the biggest constraint to a full digital transformation.”
Fact #6: Colleges Might be On to Something
- Many colleges now offer majors that didn’t exist five years ago (e.g., game design, data science, and cyber security).
Fact #7: Cybersecurity is in a Crisis
- More than 209,000 cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. are unfilled, and postings are up 74 percent over the past five years, according to a Peninsula Press (a project of the Stanford University Journalism Program) analysis of numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The demand for information security professionals is expected to grow by 53 percent through 2018.
Fact #8: Cybersecurity will remain in a Crisis
- According to the World Economic Forum, “by 2020, more than a third of the desired core skill sets of most occupations will be comprised of skills that are not yet considered crucial to the job today.”
Fact #9: Yep, We’re Screwed
- Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predicts a global workforce crisis within the next 15 years with labor deficits in the world’s 15 largest economies, which make up 70% of global GDP. Implication: this global labor deficit will impact almost every large multi-national company.
Whether your an administrative assistant, a CEO, or a cashier at Walmart technology will impact, if not eliminate, your job.
Leaders can help prepare for radical workforce disruption. Here’s how:
- Learn more about Industry 4.0 megatrends and how they’re impacting the workforce,
- Encourage job rotations and cross-training,
- Invest in collaborations with educational institutions,
- Collaborate with different industries,
- Attract talent from outside of the U.S.,
- Attract and invest in minority talent,
- Hire “gig economy” employees with specific expertise.
Finally, share these facts with others in your circle so that they’re aware of how 4iR technologies will impact their job and their workforce.
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