Machines and Jobs by 2025: Key Insights from the World Economic Forum

Introduction

• Forecast by 2025: Machines will perform more work tasks than humans (compared to 71% by humans today).
• Impact: Despite automation, the transformation will create 58 million net new jobs over five years.

Major Findings

• Job Creation and Displacement:

  • 133 million new roles created against 75 million displaced (by 2022).
  • Urgent need for reskilling, remote work enablement, and safety nets for at-risk workers.

• Survey Insights:

  • Based on chief HR officers and strategy executives from 12 industries (20 economies, 70% of global GDP).
  • 54% of employees need significant reskilling/upskilling.
  • 50% companies plan workforce reduction due to automation; 40% foresee workforce expansion.

Skills and Employment

• Skills Shift:

  • Increasing demand for data analysts, software developers, and e-commerce specialists.
  • Human skills like sales, marketing, and innovation management will also rise in demand.
  • Decline expected in routine-based roles such as data entry, accounting clerks.

• Job Outlook 2022:

  • A net gain of jobs in large firms with potential shift in job quality, location, and permanency.
  • Shift to flexible and remote work arrangements.

Strategies and Challenges

• Change Management:

  • Companies must develop augmentation strategies alongside automation.
  • Need for investment in human capital and lifelong learning.

• Industry-Specific Impacts:

  • Different industries face varied levels of displacement.
  • High reskilling needs in Aviation, ICT, Financial Services, Mining industries.

Regional Variations

• Regional Job Demand:
  • Demand for different roles varies by region (e.g., Financial Advisors in East Asia, Engineers in North America).
  • Over half of companies expect to alter job locations based on new technologies.

Future Strategies

• Human-Centered Focus:

  • Coordinated efforts needed to shape a future workforce.
  • Governments to enhance education systems and support lifelong learning.

• Methodology:

  • Data from business executives, covering 300 companies, 15 million employees, and contributions from LinkedIn.

World Economic Forum Initiatives

• Centre for the New Economy and Society:
  • Platform for transformative public-private partnerships.
  • Focus on developing responses to workforce disruptions.

Annual Meeting of the New Champions

• Event Details:
  • Held on 18-20 September in Tianjin, China.
  • The theme focused on shaping innovative societies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Additional Information

• Engagement:
  • Follow updates, photos, live sessions, and more through various media and platforms provided by the World Economic Forum.

These notes provide a summarized view of the anticipated changes in the workforce due to automation and the role of different stakeholders in managing this transition.