BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

10 Ways Automation Might Affect Job Markets In The Near Future

Forbes Coaches Council

From self-service checkout lanes in retail stores to robots on assembly lines, chatbots for online customer service and so much more, automation is disrupting aspects of almost every industry. As economic impacts are bound to multiply, the chain reaction is something that leaders should be prepared for.

There’s no doubt that automation will continue to affect job markets in the near future, but exactly what effects it will have is something industry leaders can only predict. Below, ten professionals from Forbes Coaches Council discuss how they foresee automation affecting job markets in the near future and how leaders can prepare for the transition. 

1. Organizations And Cultures Will Be Disrupted

Automation disrupts organizations and cultures. The workforce is being elevated to more complex and creative job functions that will ultimately be far more satisfying for individuals. Employees need to educate/reeducate themselves in areas that cannot be easily automated, such as communications and creativity—the softer skills. And leaders need to support this transition with training. - Nick Leighton, Exactly Where You Want to Be

2. Human Talent Will Be Leveraged To Meet Strategic Goals

Automation offers efficiency and productivity as well as time- and cost-savings. Yet it lacks heart and drive, which customers connect to. Leaders need to be agile enough to pick the best of both worlds: Embrace automation for the tasks it makes sense for and leverage unique human talent for higher-level, strategic goals. It requires development and stretching of one’s thinking as a leader. - Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory

3. Efficiency And Productivity Will Improve 

Technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA) can reduce the effort required for mundane and routine tasks. Leaders should embrace automation, but from an ESSA (eliminate, simplify, standardize, automate) angle—it is the last step. Leadership needs to review policies, processes and systems that require human intelligence and serve to keep high-value jobs for employees. - Thomas Lim, Singapore Public Service, SportSG

4. Jobs And Professions Will Be Displaced

The future of work is already here. Various forms of technological automation are firmly in place, and in the next decade, more and more tasks—even some jobs and professions—will be displaced by advanced robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Leaders need to proactively work to upskill and reskill their workforces to prepare their people for the jobs of tomorrow. - Jonathan H. Westover, Utah Valley University & Human Capital Innovations, LLC


Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?


5. Organizations Will Need To Clarify The Impacts

Clarify how automation is going to specifically affect your organization and the time frame in which this might happen. Open internal conversations and organize information sessions to help employees understand how the changes will impact the business and explore potential responses. Developing solutions collectively, perhaps via employee resource groups, can help everyone band together to face external challenges to the business. - Rittu Sinha, The Balanced Bandwagon

6. Humans Will Underperform Compared To Computers

Knowledge is already a commodity, and with AI and big data, humans will increasingly underperform in comparison to computers. This will also affect doctors, lawyers and other knowledge professionals. Emotional intelligence, cybernetic thinking and people-focused work will be key in tomorrow’s world. Leaders will need to upskill employees and build teams to manage relationships across functional silos. - Michael Thiemann, Strategy-Lab™

7. Entire Companies Will Become Automated

For my clients, this one approach changes everything: We begin by imagining that the entire company is automated already—every process, job, service and product. Then, we brainstorm the unique selling points of this automated company. After a short break, we find ways to advance those selling points with human touches (also known as the “humbot” phase). Finally, we work through the steps it took to get to humbot in reverse order. - Barbara van Veen, FuturistBarbara.com

8. Continuing Education Will Be Necessary

The antidote to the coming machine world is to keep up with continuing education and improve yourself by doubling down on improving people skills. The more the world automates, the more you need to adapt. Your ability to learn hard and soft skills throughout your career vs. the days of “getting a degree” and sitting on it are over. You have to challenge yourself in this way to fight the machines. - John M. O’Connor, Career Pro Inc.

9. Automated Process Will Grow Beyond The Tech Department

Employees at all levels will need to be able to manage automated processes and work them into day-to-day productivity. This required ability is no longer relegated to the tech department. Automation creation and management is happening at the department level. - Lisa Rangel, Chameleon Resumes LLC

10. Leaders Will Need To Determine What Can’t Be Automated

An important aspect of this is how leaders at all levels think about their own skills and capabilities. One question to ask is, “What can we not automate?” What skills, therefore, should we be upskilling ourselves in that machines cannot replicate? Being human and leading with emotional intelligence is one of those things. We need to raise the bar and reskill leaders to do what machines can not do. - Alex Draper, DX Learning Solutions

Check out my website