Upskilling key to navigating AI disruption, says WEF
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND — The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently emphasized the critical role of upskilling and development as various disruptive trends, like generative artificial intelligence (AI), are poised to reshape the global workforce landscape.
Citing discussions at the Forum, the WEF underscored the importance of upskilling “to ensure an equitable future of work.”
One of the main disruptors identified is the rapid advancement of generative AI, which, while offering significant benefits to knowledge-intensive industries like IT, healthcare, and energy, also presents challenges in terms of job displacement.
Despite this, further analysis suggests that technological innovation will likely lead to the creation of new employment opportunities, underscoring the importance of adapting employee skill sets to emerging technologies.
The WEF predicts that 23% of jobs will change in the next five years. As such, skills development is paramount for the millions needing to transition between declining and growing occupations.
Code.org CEO Hadi Partovi argued the greater risk isn’t workers losing jobs directly to AI systems: “It’s not that the worker gets replaced by just a robot or a machine in most cases, especially for desk jobs, it’s that some better or more educated worker can do that job because they can be twice as productive or three times as productive.”
Other workplace trends to watch in 2024 include:
- Digital jobs’ continued growth to around 92 million globally by 2030
- Unemployment could rise from 5.1% to 5.2% (an additional 2 million jobless individuals) in 2024
- More pop-up offices driven by employee interest in human connection and hybrid roles than remote roles
- More women in the workforce attributed to enhanced access to early childhood education and care (ECEC)
6 work and workplace trends to watch in 2024 https://t.co/O0lKmdorUB #Work #Jobs
— World Economic Forum (@wef) February 7, 2024
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