Talent Trends 2019

Top executives increasingly worry about the impact that their companies, strategies and activities will have on the environment, local communities and their employees — and how they balance this with cost and market pressures and quarterly earnings targets. Against this background, one somewhat intractable challenge is beginning to stand out: the size and composition of the workforce. Automation, primarily in the form of robotics and artificial intelligence, brings with it the promise of improved productivity and higher profits — but at what cost to employment and, by extension, to society? What responsibility do corporations have to reskill employees who otherwise would be displaced by technology? And what value does reskilling offer an organisation?

CEOs must negotiate this risk-fraught workplace revolution under a watchful public eye. No one should underestimate the scale and difficulty of the transition that’s underway. The workplace model is moving from a state of relative stability that has been in place for decades to a condition typified by constant change, with no final destination. Organisations will have many practical obstacles to face along the way, against a backdrop of employee anxiety and radical social adjustment.