Gradually, artificial intelligence (AI) will modify every aspect of work.
Undoubtedly, there were fear and controversies about AI, which exist till date, but efficiency and acceptability have also increased. A recent global report showed increasing reliance on artificial intelligence by employees to maintain the volume of work and overwhelming pace. According to “2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report” by Microsoft and LinkedIn: “The number of people using AI has nearly doubled in the last six months and around 75 per cent of global knowledge workers are using AI at workplaces.”
The survey was conducted among 31,000 people across 31 countries to identify the hiring trends from LinkedIn. In this article, we will discuss about challenges faced by employees and new opportunities linked to AI.
There is long-standing debate if AI will take away jobs or not. According to the World Economic Forum’s “The Future of Jobs Report 2020” report: “AI is expected to replace 85 million jobs worldwide by 2025. It will also create 97 million new jobs in that same timeframe.”
Since 2000, automations have removed numerous manufacturing jobs. Now, at least 1.7 million of them and white-collar jobs are also at risk of being automated.
The Challenges: According to some industry experts, following are the sectors which will be affected by AI: customer service, computer programmer, research analyst, paralegal, warehouse, financial trading, travel advisor, content writing, graphic design, and so on. As per the recent reports “45 per cent of employees worry about AI replacing their jobs, an almost equal share (46 per cent) are considering quitting jobs as they are getting better opportunities.”
The Opportunities: There are several other profession, where there will be no effect of AI: teaching, social work, nurse, therapist, lawyer, HR specialist, creative content creation including artist.
LinkedIn survey in the US showed “A 14 per cent increase in job applications per role since last fall, with 85 per cent of professionals contemplating a job change this year.”
We are living in AI era. Thus, organisations are recognising the value and potential of AI skills. At least 66 per cent of the respondents mentioned that they would not hire someone without AI skills.
Furthermore, “71 per cent express a preference for hiring less experienced candidates with AI skills over more experienced ones without them.”
Around 77 per cent respondents believe that “AI will enable early-career talent to take on greater responsibilities.”
The companies who will embrace the challenge as opportunity will surge ahead. Many organisations have started training AI to their employees for creating a better workplace.
The LinkedIn report highlighted: “90 per cent of AI users stated it helped them save time, 85 per cent were able to focus on their most crucial tasks, 84 per cent of AI users felt more creative, and 83 percent enjoyed their work more after using the AI.”
At least 79% of industry respondents feel AI adoption is a must for competitiveness, however, 59 % are worried about productivity.
Constance Noonan Hadley, Organizational Psychologist, in Institute for Life at Work and Boston University suggested: “Over the past few decades, companies have been renegotiating the psychological contract—the why of work—with their employees, influenced by new generations, labor trends, and the pandemic. Now companies must renegotiate the ‘operational contract’—the how of work—with their employees as AI puts more power into the hands of workers in terms of the way the job gets done.”
The recent survey also claimed that AI is helping people to become more creative as well as productive. “We’ve come to the hard part of any tech disruption: moving past experimentation to business transformation,” the report mentioned.
