Talent trends 2019: Upskilling for a digital world

Top executives increasingly worry about the impact that their companies, strategies and activities will have on the environment, local communities and their employees — and how they can balance this with cost and market pressures and quarterly earnings targets. Against this background, one somewhat intractable challenge is beginning to stand out: the size and composition of the workforce. Automation, primarily in the form of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), brings with it the promise of improved productivity and higher profits — but at what cost to employment and, by extension, to society? What responsibility do corporations have to reskill employees who otherwise would be displaced by technology? And what value does reskilling offer an organisation?