Globally transforming work environment requires new skills by people

Digital technology is becoming the silver thread running through the fabric of all the work we do.  

This is the issue of our time, and the opportunity of our time.  And it falls well within our job descriptions as business leaders and policy makers. This was said by Ms. Iva Todorova, Government and Regulatory Affairs Executive, IBM Bulgarian, and AmCham Bulgaria Board Member, during the Annual Outsourcing Conference, June 8th, 2018 at Varna.
Good stewardship requires we invest in three imperatives. First, is solving the skills equation for new hires and for mid-career workers. Second, is better equipping affected workers for transitions to new opportunities. Third, is empowering employees to take charge of their careers in an era of turbulent change. IBM and other technological companies members of AmCham Bulgaria are optimistic about jobs – we are not techno-pessimists.  IBM has more than 100 years of history of transformation with new technology. And the company believes in a values-based approach to AI deployment and to data responsibility.
Cognitive computing and Artificial Intelligence are more and more entering into the industry, into our lives and change the way we function. As AI is undertaking mainly repetitive and low profile transactions, in outsourcing, like in any other industry, focus should move to upskilling people and transform their work to activities that are focused on more complex tasks and add value. The advantage in the digital era will be talent – and the war for talents has begun. Talent and people should be the focus of any industry, business, company, region or country.
Globally transforming work environment requires new skills by people.
The above highlights, while looks challenging, actually open space for companies and leaders to undertake immediate steps in order to ensure sustainability toward future. Few good examples:

Redesign of jobs and  identification of skills gaps (IBM has deployed a project to identify the availability of skills across the company and match them with the requirements of digital world. Gaps are fullfiled trough intensive training and education, combined with more focused career paths opportunities and digital badges).AI has been already introduced in many businesses, and while the perception of it is ranging from very positive to very negative, it is important to highlight the projection of Leaders of the big technology companies about it. Ginny Romety, CEO of IBM has described AI not as a treat, but as an alliance between humans and machine. AI may undertake the repetitive, low profile work and off load humans to focus on more challenging, high value activities, help them better plan their future, career path, and personal work life balance.AI as well has immense capability to process and analyze data, hence it is the basis for digital economy, where data is the new natural source and any business decision relies on huge amount of data.

Inevitably AI is transforming job profiles and many positions as we know them today will not exist in the future.

What we face today, is not really a new reality – when machine automation was introduced 2 centuries back, humans has ruined factories, fearing that the machines are taking their job. In reality, implementation of the machines actually has created much more new jobs, than it has taken. Expectations though are that AI will for sure kill many jobs, particularly ones that have many repetitive actions. It will transform some of the existing positions and based on AI new job roles will be created.

To illustrate the above, will provide an example – IBM, as company with 100 + years of history and ambition to create and be a leader in the new digital world, has already started to implement AI in its business. Based on that implementation, new positions have been created across the globe, and majority of current ones are transforming. Human management for example, has been off loaded of the transactional, repetitive work (this process continue across the globe) and professionals, previously known as HR have a new position and new role across the organization, focused on consultancy and adding value to the organization and clients, then processing operational transactions.

Digital world requires common and aligned approach toward workforce – as work may be performed by any place across the globe, there should be alignment of education, labor law framework, synergy between business, educational institutions governments and social organizations/communities.

Education, and educational institutions are the basis for equipping future workforce for challenges of the digital world. It is also providing tools and opportunities for current workforce to better align and upskill for current work environment. Fragmented labor law across countries and different geographically based approach should also shift to better alignment and common principles, in order to answer to the new reality.