Automation is Creating Jobs, Not Destroying Them
Robot workers replacing human jobs – the debate of the decade, and even of the centuries. In reality, the opposite seems to be the case. ManpowerGroup’s report Humans Wanted: Robots Need You found that more employers than ever – 87% – plan to increase or maintain headcount as a result of automation for the third consecutive year. ManpowerGroup surveyed 19,000 employers in 44 countries on the impact of automation on job growth in the next two years. For the full findings click here: https://www.manpowergroup.com/workforce-insights/world-of-work/skills-revolution-series
Companies that are digitizing are growing, and that growth is producing more and new kinds of jobs. In fact, automation leads to the creation of jobs that we did not know needed to be created. Automation expands the possibilities. Organizations that are already automating tasks and progressing their digital transformation are most confident of increasing headcount. Global talent shortages are at a 12-year high and new skills are appearing as fast as others disappear. More companies are planning to build talent than ever before, and this trend shows no sign of slowing. Eighty-four percent of employers plan to upskill their workforce by 2020.
“The focus on robots eliminating jobs is distracting us from the real issue,” said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup Chairman & CEO. “More and more robots are being added to the workforce, but humans are too. Tech is here to stay and it’s our responsibility as leaders to become Chief Learning Officers and work out how we integrate humans with machines. Learning today cannot be done as it was in the past. That’s why at ManpowerGroup we’re reskilling people from declining industries like textiles for jobs in high growth industries including cyber security, advanced manufacturing and autonomous driving. If we focus on practical steps to upskill people at speed and at scale, organizations and individuals really can befriend the machines.”
The Humans Wanted report also found that demand for information technology skills is growing significantly and a rapid pace; 16% of companies expect to increase headcount in IT, five times more than those expecting a decrease. Production and manufacturing employers anticipate the most change in headcount, 25% say they will employ more people in the next year, while 20% say they will employ less. Growth will come in front line and customer facing roles too – all requiring human skills such as communication, negotiation, leadership and adaptability.
Humans Wanted: Robots Need You provides practical recommendations and best practice examples from around the world to help organizations upskill their people and become more agile with the right combination of building, buying, borrowing and bridging talent.
