i3 - May/June 2017 - 25

Business,
educators, and
policymakers
are preparing for
different kinds
of work in the
next phase of the
digital economy.

totally wrong," Autor said, adding that there is "zero evidence" that artificial
intelligence is having a significant impact on employment.
The current conundrums about the future of work stem from a variety of
sources. For example, a U.S. Labor Department report a few years ago estimated that 65 percent of children entering primary school today will work
in new job categories that don't yet exist. Using that assessment, the World
Economic Forum, in its 2016 Future of Jobs report, deemed that "the Fourth
Industrial revolution" will generate an "optimistic picture regarding job creation by technologies such as Big Data analytics, mobile internet, the
Internet of Things and robotics."
From another perspective, McKinsey and Company, in a February 2017
examination of "Technology, Jobs and the Future of Work," pointed to the
evolving tools that affect how Americans perceive employment.
C TA . t e c h / i 3

"Job matching sites such as LinkedIn
and Monster are changing and expanding
the ways individuals look for work and
companies identify and recruit talent,"
McKinsey observes. It concludes that
"labor markets are under strain and talent
is underutilized," suggesting that "a new
category of knowledge-enabled jobs will
become possible" as embedded intelligence and knowledge in devices will
enable "less-skilled workers" to perform
new functions with little training.
McKinsey identifies new jobs such as
"paratechnicians" who work via internetenabled devices.

BEYOND THE THINK TANK
Although economists, global business analysts, academics and corporate executives
have plenty of theories about "future of
work" macro issues, there's an even greater
personal interest about what jobs will be
created and how they will be filled.
Predictably, there are conflicting forecasts
about the job market, although some categories, such as health care and professional business services, appear at the top
of most lists. In fact, the latest Jobs Outlook
from the U.S. Commerce Department's
Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates those
two sectors will account for more than half
of all new employment (nearly 8.5 million
jobs) by 2022. [See Sidebar.]
In its future jobs analysis, the World
Economic Forum also stressed the corporate role in workforce planning decisions.
"Firms have the potential to transform
local labor markets through indirect
employment and by setting the pace for
changing skills and occupational requirements," WEF said.
McKinsey's report concluded that organizations will have to factor labor substitution - automation and other capabilities
- into their operations. It recognized that
automation can raise output levels, enable
better quality and generate fewer errors. It
also acknowledged that online talent platforms can put "the right people in the right
jobs, thereby increasing their productivity
along with their job satisfaction."
"The modern 9-to-5 job that dates back
to the Industrial Revolution is being challenged by technology-enabled independent work," McKinsey says. It recommends
that companies "innovate how humans
work alongside machines."
MAY/JUNE 2017

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i3 - May/June 2017

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