Workers in a meeting room doing training - Automation - skill shift - job augmentation

We’ve taken three recent trending articles that give an insight to how automation and AI will impact the workplace, with an emphasis on skill shift and job augmentation.


#1 Automation will make lifelong learning a necessary part of work

By Jacques Bughin, @SusanLund_DC and @eric5555

Research shows that automation and AI can bring great productivity growth and performance gains to the economy and society, but as more organisations implement these technologies, there will be a significant shift in the skills needed in the workplace – and this presents quite a challenge.

To put it into perspective, by 2030 it is expected that one in three workers will have had to adapt their skills due to automation. This is more twice the number of roles that could be displaced by automation. Coding and programming will be amongst the advanced technological skills heavily anticipated by employers by 2030, with demand for these expected to rise by fifty-five per cent.

Read this article to understand the full importance of retraining or ‘reskilling’ workforces within the next decade, to ensure society has the skills to fulfill emerging and evolving job roles. And, also see how the challenge presented can also be an opportunity for organisations.

You can also download the whitepaper here to see how service providers like you can help organisations transform by expanding human and cognitive capabilities.


#2 Embracing AI and automation can make your job better

By @williamarruda

There’s a fear that the fourth industrial revolution will see jobs disappear, but AI is more likely to augment jobs humans perform than replace them completely.

The concept is that AI will eliminate the mindless busywork for workers, allowing them to become more efficient, productive and valuable. For example, marketers will finally be able to give customers the experience they crave by using AI-powered chatbots, programmers will be able to train AI to do the smaller jobs for them, and HR will be able to speed up recruitment and training by using AI to identify desirable candidates.

Read this article to learn more about how AI will allow businesses to automate some processes, to allow workers to focus on bigger picture. You can also start developing your own chatbot with a 12-month free trial of IBM Watson Assistant.


#3 Man vs machine – what does the future of work hold?

By @ravinjesuthasan

As we see automation emerge more in the workplace, workplaces will need to start thinking differently about how they connect people to work. There are three main challenges that organisations face when it comes to this:

  1. Defining the workplace in a way that is agile and built for change, by accessing a real-time inventory of skills
  2. Connecting skills to the supply and demand sides of the work equation, by tagging positions and tasks with the requisite skills and allowing a space where people can tag their skills in a secure environment
  3. Matching people to work by using an algorithm that compares skill on a continuous basis and suggests ‘reskilling’ opportunities

Learn more about the challenges in this article and consider how you could work with your clients to overcome these.

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