Business Leader Speaks Out: Addressing the Devastating Job Loss of 114 Million Due to COVID-19 and Moving Forward with Recovery Strategies
In a world where the coronavirus pandemic and accelerated automation have caused widespread economic disruption, Alain Dehaze, CEO of a leading group, outlines a strategic approach to help address these challenges. The group's new Future@Work strategy brings together three global business units - our, Talent Solutions, and Modis - to help customers address their talent needs more efficiently.
According to the World Economic Forum, by 2022, 42% of the core skills required to perform existing jobs will change. By 2025, it is estimated that 85 million jobs will be displaced by technology, but also predicted that 97 million new roles will emerge. This rapid shift necessitates a focus on lifelong learning and reskilling.
The group's innovative solutions include the concept of employment bridges, which facilitates the flow of workers from struggling sectors to those showing a rapid expansion. Talent rivers, developed by the group's brand Pontoon, are designed to capture the way talent migrates from one employer to the other and from one job to the next, based on 'lean' principles to design a faster, more agile, and responsive hiring process.
Governments play a crucial role in this transition. They should build lifelong learning ecosystems that encourage continuous reskilling through cross-disciplinary, multistakeholder collaboration involving businesses and education providers. This prepares workers for shifting job requirements accelerated by both the pandemic and automation.
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are another key strategy. These partnerships integrate government resources and private sector expertise to modernize public services and workforce development, streamlining processes, enhancing digital skills, and fostering innovation in service delivery.
Businesses should invest in training programs aligned with evolving AI and automation technologies to equip employees with relevant skills. Avoiding short-term cost-cutting layoffs, especially of junior roles, helps maintain mentorship, on-the-job development, and a sustainable talent pipeline necessary for long-term economic stability in an automated environment.
Leveraging emerging technologies like collaborative digital twins and federated learning can also help in pandemic management and workforce planning, protecting privacy while enabling data-driven decisions.
By collaborating on lifelong learning and reskilling ecosystems, public-private partnerships, and technology-driven innovation, governments, businesses, and individuals can work synergistically to mitigate disruptions from the pandemic and automation, while creating pathways for lifelong learning, workforce resilience, and economic growth.
The group is developing many innovative solutions in response to the current and ongoing crises, with more to come. As we navigate these challenging times, it is clear that collaboration and adaptability are key to turning challenges into opportunities and ensuring a bright future for all.
- In alignment with the World Economic Forum's prediction, there's a need for a focus on lifelong learning and reskilling due to the rapid change of core skills required for existing jobs, expected to reach 42% by 2022.
- To counteract the estimated displacement of 85 million jobs by technology by 2025, new roles are predicted to emerge, and it's essential to invest in business strategies that promote upskilling and career development.
- Streamlined collaboration between businesses and education providers is vital for creating lifelong learning ecosystems that prepare workers for shifting job requirements, as both the pandemic and automation accelerate these changes.
- Public-private partnerships (PPPs) can help modernize public services and workforce development, integrating government resources and private sector expertise, thus fostering innovation and enhancing digital skills.
- By utilizing emerging technologies like collaborative digital twins and federated learning, businesses can not only manage the pandemic and plan their workforce more effectively but also protect privacy while making data-driven decisions essential for the future of their operations.
