As the 4th industrial revolution progressed, there was growing concern among workers, and indeed among organizations, that their skills were struggling to keep up with the pace of change. New research from Robotic Process Automation company UiPath suggests that this perspective is enduring into the coronavirus pandemic, with around half of employees saying they were worried they would lose their job due to their skills becoming outdated.
This created an understandable desire among the 4,500 office workers surveyed to upgrade their skills, and for their employer to give them more opportunities to do so.
The study revealed that around a third of workers fear that the skill requirements of their current role will outgrow them, with another 25% worrying that this will result in their work being automated. These concerns would be assuaged by their employer offering more learning opportunities, with a particular desire to learn how to use new digital tools.
“Now more than ever, digital skillsets are necessary. Employers need to provide their employees with new training initiatives so they can best leverage technology like automation so they’re more productive and satisfied in their careers. Fifty-eight percent of office workers believe there are more opportunities for them to automate daily, monotonous tasks at work,” UiPath say. “Employers should offer digital training as part of career development initiatives as it is proven to enhance retention and boost business productivity.”
Skills crisis
Obviously, a major challenge will be that such concerns will persist during the pandemic, but a huge number of people will not even have a disinterested employer to help them upskill, but will instead have to fend for themselves.
Unemployment services have generally been very poor at helping the unemployed gain the skills they need to be valuable in the labor market again, and of course, it remains wholly uncertain just what kind of economy will bounce back from the crisis.
These problems might be exacerbated if employers turn to automation in a bid to return to some semblance of normality while providing the kind of social distancing required to stem the tide of the virus.
As with so much during this crisis, the issues that existed prior to it have been exacerbated by the pandemic, and the skills challenges, especially in terms of providing the unemployed with new skills, is likely to be high among them. The furloughing schemes implemented in many countries around the world has provided a degree of breathing space, but as those schemes are relaxed and unemployment rises, it’s a problem that urgently needs a solution.
