Embracing tech and the changing jobs landscape

Those looking for work should prepare for big changes to the workplace

News from a report by Goldman Sachs that an estimated 300 million full-time jobs could be replaced with AI has raised more questions about the future of the jobs market and how we should navigate this significant shift.

The report estimates that AI could replace a quarter of everyday work jobs in the US and Europe and it could mean that there will be an increase in the total annual value of goods and services produced globally by 7 per cent. All good news it seems. If productivity and profits are up and the number of work tasks people have to generate is down, then surely it’s a good thing?

The pace at which AI has established itself within society has been incredible, with chatGPT now regularly used by consumers and organisations to quicken and streamline jobs and lives. The content created is said to be indistinguishable from human work. However, errors and incorrect facts mean that many companies are having to fact check the work. Of course, this will change as the technology develops.

Lord Mark Price, founder of WorkL.

When looking at the report by sector, 46 per cent of tasks in administration might be run by AI in the future. We’ll also see creative writing job roles, such as authors and journalists, to be less in demand since average or poor writers will be able to use chatGPT to enhance their own writing. In comparison, manual jobs, such as construction will see minimal job losses.

One thing that AI will impact for sure, other than job losses, is wages. Those in industries where AI will take over the majority of tasks, will be less in demand which will result in wage decreases across the sector.

We’ve already seen this with drivers of taxis. Once their knowledge of roads was invaluable, now it’s less in demand as satnavs in Ubers ferry customers around cities just as fast as cabbies did. This has resulted in a decrease in wages for drivers, but not a decrease in drivers.

I compare this digital transition to the great agricultural revolution or industrial revolution – both of these moments in time didn’t stop population growth, or reduce jobs, it just changed them.

An example of the most recent technological advancement was the birth of computers. Research in the report reveals that a majority of workers are currently in occupations that did not exist in 1940. This illustrates that society adapts, as it always has, and we will adapt as AI changes the jobs market. At WorkL, the employee experience platform that I founded in 2017, we measure, track and improve employee engagement and employee happiness at work, with the help of AI. We’re currently using AI to enhance our Jobs Marketplace, where millions of live jobs are advertised globally.

This is one example of how AI will help people find work and employers find the right person for the role, in a more accurate and faster way.

 

The report also reveals that the UK government says that it is embracing AI, but it is cautious to highlight that it is working to make AI complement the current jobs market rather than remove jobs.

We’ll see how possible this is over the coming months, but employers should be looking to embrace AI and use it to make employees’ lives better. Change is good and there’s no doubt that we’ll see big changes over the coming months.

The Australian and WorkL have joined forces to recognise and celebrate the very best organisations with consistently high levels of positive employee experience in Australia. The Australian Best Places to Work 2024 are open now and give organisations across the country the chance of being included within the prestigious list, which will help businesses to attract and retain talent.

Businesses entering will not only understand their own flight risk score, but understand their organisation’s overall engagement score, their confidence in management indicator, diversity and inclusion indicator, net promoter score, their six steps to workplace engagement scores and have their data benchmarked against industry and global scores.

The 12 main award categories feature the best places to work by organisation size along with specific areas such as wellbeing and demographic groups. The Australian Best Places to work survey uses 35 questions from WorkL’s employee engagement survey, developed by behavioural scientists, data analysts, psychologists, business leaders, academics and other independent parties to most accurately measure employee engagement and wellbeing in the workplace.

Entering your organisation is easy and takes no longer than 10 minutes to complete. The deadline for entry is December 15, with results announced in The Australian in February 2024. So why not let The Australian do the work for you? Enter your company and show the top talent in your field why they should work for you.

Get in touch with us at [e-mail] to find out more.

Lord Mark Price is founder of WorkL.