There is a latent reality on the planet. Jobs have increased, and the unemployment rate has declined, hundreds of new jobs have been created and the global economy is stable, all thanks to globalization. However, curious as it may seem, the uncertainty and precariousness of the workers are increasing, all due precisely to this internationalization. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in this year’s Forum, employees live in fear of being replaced by work automation and wage instability. Everything began gradually, entering machinery that replaced simple processes of workers in industrial plants in the middle of the last century, but today, the automation of work and its increase in all areas is a fact.
Of course, the margin of the population that is vulnerable to long-term automation are those employees who, due to their highly technical or mathematical jobs, can be replaced by artificial intelligence. Still, not everything is as gray as it appears. The OECD estimates that 14% of known jobs will be automated and another 32% may face changes in the way they are performed.
In the very near future, the machines will carry out a large part of the processes in the companies, allowing the economic development (especially of the third world countries) and productiveness, increase. On one hand, it is true that these processes will be much more efficient than those carried out by the human hand and will greatly help in the management of material and human resources, and will give the opportunity to get deeper in knowing the costumers and in the creation of value proposals. On the other hand, there is a general concern that, once machines can do more things, not only tangible but cognitive processes, people’s work will be less necessary.
The reality is different: it is true that many jobs will cease to exist or will change, especially those that encompass mathematical operations and technical processes, such as accounting or physic labor. This does not mean that data analysts or supervisors will no longer exist in different areas, but that they will be updated to improve core competencies.
In summary: technology and hyper-connectivity are changing the nature of work: along with demographic, economic and social factors, they are driving the emergence of a more independent and dispersed workforce. Flexibility is the slogan of the time, from an environment in which, work was based on traditional employment, to one where there are empowered employees or where there are independent agents. This shows a panorama where businesses will change to be much more divergent and competitive, where employees will take a more important look and also where they can develop in really relevant skills.
The new generations must embrace technology as an object of change; us, the old generations must adapt to a world that will leave us in obsolescence; and all the agents involved should start thinking about being more creative and innovative, because that is irreplaceable.
Soñador y constructor de mundos.