Australian execs anticipate significant reskilling

Australian executives estimate that 39% of their workforce will need to reskill as a result of implementing AI and automation over the next three years, according to a new global study by the IBM Institute for Business Value. According to the World Bank, there are 3.4 billion people in the global workforce, which means roughly 1.4 billion people will likely need to be reskilled in the near term.

The study — Augmented work for an automated, AI-driven world — also revealed that in Australia, C-suite executives surveyed believe that building new skills for existing talent is the most important challenge to their organisation.

With AI primed to take on more manual and repetitive tasks, Australian employees surveyed report that engaging in impactful work is the top factor they care about (48%) with flexible work arrangements second (44%) and growth opportunities third (41%).

Conversely, when executives were asked what they thought Australian employees cared about, they cited autonomy (54%), followed by growth opportunities (52%) and flexible working arrangements (48%).

“As AI continues to pervade all aspects of enterprises, people remain a core competitive advantage for businesses, but leaders face a multitude of talent-related challenges,” said Ian Abraham, Managing Partner at IBM Consulting Australia & New Zealand.

“The businesses of tomorrow cannot run with yesterday’s talent — and tomorrow’s talent cannot be plugged into yesterday’s ways of working. Leaders have to be at the helm of navigating these challenges, redesigning work and shepherding their organisations into the future.”

The full study is available here.

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