Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are ushering in a new age of automation, as machines match or outperform human performance in a range of work activities, including ones requiring cognitive capabilities. In this report, part of our ongoing research into the future of work, we analyze the automation potential of the global economy, the factors that will determine the pace and extent of workplace adoption, and the economic impact associated with its potential.

Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are ushering in a new age of automation, as machines match or outperform human performance in a range of work activities, including ones requiring cognitive capabilities. In this report, part of the McKinsey Global Institute's ongoing research into the future of work, the authors analyze the automation potential of the global economy, the factors that will determine the pace and extent of workplace adoption, and the economic impact associated with its potential. The five factors affecting pace and extent of adoption are technical feasibility, cost of developing and deploying solutions, labour market dynamics, economic benefits, and regulatory and social acceptance.

The relentless parade of new technologies is unfolding on many fronts. Almost every advance is billed as a breakthrough, and the list of “next big things” grows ever longer. Not every emerging technology will alter the business or social landscape—but some truly do have the potential to disrupt the status quo, alter the way people live and work, and rearrange value pools. It is therefore critical that business and policy leaders understand which technologies will matter to them and prepare accordingly. Disruptive technologies: Advances that will transform life, business, and the global economy, a report from the McKinsey Global Institute, cuts through the noise and identifies 12 technologies that could drive truly massive economic transformations and disruptions in the coming years. The report also looks at exactly how these technologies could change our world, as well as their benefits and challenges, and offers guidelines to help leaders from businesses and other institutions respond. We estimate that, together, applications of the 12 technologies discussed in the report could have a potential economic impact between $14 trillion and $33 trillion a year in 2025. This estimate is neither predictive nor comprehensive. It is based on an in-depth analysis of key potential applications and the value they could create in a number of ways, including the consumer surplus that arises from better products, lower prices, a cleaner environment, and better health.

Informality” is a term used to describe the collection of firms, workers, and activities that operate outside the legal and regulatory systems. It is widespread in the majority of developing countries—in a typical developing economy, the informal sector produces about 35 percent of gross domestic product and employs 70 percent of the labor force. This paper studies informality in the context of economic development by presenting a model and projections that link informality, regulations, migration, and economic growth. This analytical framework highlights the trade-offs between formality and informality, the relationship between the different types of informality, and the connection between them and the forces of labor, capital, and productivity growth. The paper models the behavior of the informal sector based on the following fundamental asymmetry: formal firms confront higher labor costs while informal firms face higher capital costs and lower productivity. Using mandated minimum wages as the policy-induced distortion, the model first studies the static allocation of formal and informal capital and labor in a modern economy. Second, it opens the possibility of labor migration from a rudimentary economy with an ample supply of labor (rural areas or less advanced neighboring countries). Third, the model analyzes the dynamic behavior of the formal and informal sectors, considering how they affect and are affected by economic growth and labor migration. Then, the paper presents projections for the size of labor informality, in the modern and rudimentary economies, in the next two decades for a large group of countries representing all regions of the world. The projections are based on the calibration and simulation of the model and serve to discuss its usefulness and limitations.

The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is conducted quarterly to measure employers’ intentions to increase or decrease the number of employees in their workforces during the next quarter. ManpowerGroup’s comprehensive forecast of employer hiring plans has been running for more than 55 years and is one of the most trusted surveys of employment activity in the world. Various factors underpin the success of the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey.

Labor market predictions talk of extremes over the long-term: technology eating our jobs, robots replacing drivers, even the threat of a world without work. In the near-term we are seeing new jobs and new skills. For the second year, eighty-six percent of employers globally say their headcount will remain the same or increase in the next two to three years as a result of automation. And, as skills needs are changing faster, employers do not always know which skills they will need even eighteen months from now. This report provides a real-time view of the impact of automation on the workforce in the digital age – not five or ten years out, but now and in the near-term. It shows which functions within companies are set to grow or contract. And it provides insight on the value of soft skills – or human strengths – that are most in-demand by employers and which they have the greatest challenge finding. As world of work experts, we find work for 3 million people annually and have nearly 30,000 employees advising 400,000 companies on hiring decisions and skills development every year. We are well-placed to share human solutions for the Skills Revolution.

The outcomes of technology's impact on employment are not really known for sure. Predictions suggest that there will be more jobs, different jobs, less jobs, even no jobs. However, not much is being written about how people will need new skills more often to stay employable for jobs that may not have been heard of yet. This report presents new findings based on a 2016 survey of 18,000 employers in 43 countries across six industry sectors to determine how they expect technology will impact their business in the next two years, and how they are ensuring their workforce has the right skills and is ready to adapt.

We carried out a deep dive into people’s mindsets to explore whether Millennials think differently about the gender gap and if they will be the generation to eradicate it. We wanted to understand whether attitudes differ between women and men, how long it will take to close the gap and what solutions are needed to make change happen faster. Our research points to clear conclusions. We need to move from talking about diversity to taking real action that achieves real results. This report presents seven practical steps – real steps for real people working in businesses around the world – to reach the tipping point where women will accelerate into leadership roles, faster.

We provide a new measure of automation based on patents and study its employment effects. Classifying all U.S. patents granted between 1976 and 2014 as automation or non-automation patents, we document a strong rise in both the absolute number and the share of automation patents. We link patents to the industries of their use and, through local industry structure, to commuting zones. According to our estimates, advances in national automation technology have a positive influence on employment in local labor markets. Manufacturing employment declines, but this is more than compensated by service sector job growth. Commuting zones with more people working in routine occupations fare worse. Our findings are robust to weighting patents by the number of their citations or focusing exclusively on patents by governments, research institutions or foreign assignees.