The robot revolution is going to destroy 75 million jobs global over the next four years, the World Economic Forum has calculated.
But it will create 133 million jobs over the same period, according to the WEF’s “Future Jobs Report 2018”. That’s a net increase of 58 million jobs.
Good news – for some. The report highlights the way that demand for skills such as manual dexterity, endurance and precision, will decline. In demand skills include analytical thinking and innovation, complex problem solving and leadership and social influence.
It says: “By 2022, 59 per cent of employers surveyed for this report expect that they will have significantly modified how they produce and distribute by changing the composition of their value chain and nearly half expect to have modified their geographical base of operations.”
For employers, the challenge is going to be getting from where they are now in terms of skills to where they need to be to take advantage of these developing technologies – and that means training.
Employers surveyed for the WEF report estimate that, by 2022, no less than 54 per cent of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling. Of these, about 35 per cent are expected to require additional training of up to six months, nine per cent will require reskilling lasting six to 12 months, while ten per cent will require additional skills training of more than a year.
These are big numbers and a big task for any organisation. What is certain is that disruptors will come into the market exploiting these technologies for competitive advantage. And there are plenty of examples, from other areas of activity, of what happens to organisations that fail to keep up.
You can find out about all these latest developments at the Robotics and Automation Exhibition which takes place at the MK Arena on 10th and 11th October.
