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In a report by the World Economic Forum, the world can lose around 14 million jobs in the next 5 years, with the most dramatic reductions projected in fundamental positions such as data entry operators and secretaries.
For the unversed, the Future of Jobs Report is a bi-annual report published by the World Economic Forum. Since 2016, this report has focused on the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (the fusion of technologies like AI and advanced robotics obscures the lines between the biological, physical, and digital worlds) on the global labour markets. It identifies the scale of disruption and growth due to the emergence of such technology while also focusing on strategies that can help transition jobs from declining to emerging roles.
The survey is conducted based on 803 companies that employ close to 11.3 million people across 27 industries and 45 economies. It covers crucial questions on macroeconomic and technology trends alongside their impact on jobs, skills, and workforce strategies.
According to the analysis, technology will continue to be a crucial driver of corporate change over the next five years, as more than 85% of companies polled believe. Big data, AI, and cloud computing are among the most likely to be implemented in technology, with 75% of companies aiming to implement them over the next five years.
Digital apps and platforms are the most likely to be adopted because 86% of companies plan to incorporate them into their operations, followed by education and workforce technology at 81% and E-commerce at 75%.
AI and ML Specialists are among the fastest-growing careers, followed by Sustainability Specialists and BI Analysts. However, agricultural technology, digital platforms, e-commerce, and AI are expected to be the biggest disruptors in the labour market, with employers anticipating a 23% job churn.
Around 69 million new jobs can be created out of the 673 million jobs considered in the survey, while 83 million jobs can be lost, resulting in a net loss of 14 million jobs, or 2% of current jobs.
The highest employment losses can be in administrative positions, with over 26 million jobs expected to be lost in fields like record keeping, data entry, payroll clerks and Administrative secretaries, mainly due to advancements in digitization and automation.
However, contrary to popular belief, technology will not be the immediate cause of job losses. Due to adverse macroeconomic conditions, such as the looming recession in almost all major economies, job creation will be slow as the world is already witnessing layoffs on a massive scale.
Moreover, the biggest challenge will be the slow growth in upskilling as there won't be enough skilled labour to meet the employer's needs. The report has added that there is an urgent need for re-skilling as it estimates that around 44% of a worker's skills will need to be updated to maintain employability.
Today upskilling is more critical than ever as the demand for better labour is higher. People will do more in their jobs than they do as we all must upskill continuously to stay relevant.
Learn more in-demand skills to stay relevant and gain a competitive edge against your peers. Jobaaj Learning is one such platform that is making you industry ready.
