AI isn't coming for your job. It's just changing it
It's an understandable fear. Over the next two decades—and probably sooner— tech experts say cashiers, factory workers, and software engineers are among the numerous occupations primed for significant job losses. A new General Assembly survey of tech hiring managers found that 54% said they expect their companies to conduct layoffs over the next year, and the employees most at risk of being let go are those who can be replaced by AI or automation.
But if past is prologue, the AI revolution—much like the three industrial revolutions that have preceded it—won't so much eliminate jobs as create new roles that require different sets of skills. In the case of AI, there's the very real potential that high-tech automation will create far more jobs than it eliminates if employers equip their workers with the right skills to harness this new technology.
But good luck finding employees who can work well with AI. Current talent pools aren't wide enough or deep enough to produce the AI talent companies are seeking. Nearly two-thirds of hiring managers say it's harder to hire job candidates with desired AI skills than it is to source candidates for other tech roles.
As companies around the world teeter on the precipice of an unprecedented skills crisis, they should recognize that all of today's jobs must include digital skills so workers can manage AI and assume mission-critical tasks with far less technical expertise than ever before.
Here are three ways companies can build the AI workforce they need:
1. MAKE ALL EMPLOYEES IN EVERY DEPARTMENT AI-READY
Nearly every role in every organization can benefit from AI in some way, but some roles—and some workers—will adapt to it more quickly than others.
Building an AI-ready workforce doesn't mean letting only early adopters and tech-savvy employees try out new AI tools. It means making AI available to everyone, from opening up access to AI-enabled tools to ensuring that workers across the enterprise have opportunities to experiment. Perhaps most importantly, AI training—basic literacy, ethical and responsible use, and job-specific functions—should be mandatory for all employees before the technology advances so fast and so far that some workers won't be able to catch up.
2. BUILD AI TALENT YOURSELF
Outside recruitment of AI talent clearly won't be enough to keep up with the growing demand for AI skills. As AI becomes an increasingly crucial tool across a range of business functions, businesses looking to solve their talent shortages should start by looking inward and upskilling and reskilling existing employees to both enter emerging AI-focused roles and better integrate AI in their existing workflow. Equipping the incumbent workforce to use AI effectively can help them both become more effective in their current roles and open new pathways to advancement.
Crucially, building talent internally can also have a powerful impact on retention. Employees typically welcome opportunities to advance their careers and be a part of a culture of continuous improvement, so helping your workforce master AI skills at this pivotal inflection point will go a long way toward building loyalty and incentivizing employees to stick around.
3. CRAWL, THEN WALK, THEN RUN
As rapidly as AI is advancing, it'll be a long time before it replaces people. The companies that can remain ahead of the curve in the current AI-dominated labor market will be the ones that recognize both AI's advantages and its limitations. That means workforce AI training should start with the basics and ramp up from there.
This approach starts with helping employees throughout the company find ways to apply AI to become more efficient in their current roles. It progresses to automating tasks to increase scale and accelerate output. It culminates with compiling these tasks into AI-driven processes managed by employees with AI skills their employers helped them develop.
The race for AI talent is underway. The companies that will come out ahead won't be the ones who will try to use AI for everything right out of the gate, or leave the less AI-literate parts of their workforce in the dust. It will be the organizations that intentionally prepare their workforce for AI that's not coming to steal their jobs—but coming to change them.
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