IT leaders worldwide believe AI will take over in the next five years
One in five jobs will be replaced by AI and automation within the next five years, according to Chief Information Officers (CIO).
This is likely to lead to a significant reorganisation of roles across the business.
Additionally, 69% of CIOs believe that new jobs will compensate for job losses to AI and automation, based on a recent joint study by Harvey Nash and KPMG.
What’s more alarming is the continued struggle to fill tech skills gaps. The struggle to find the right talent with the right skills is at its highest level since 2008.
The three most scarce skills were found to be:
- Big data/analytics (44%)
- Cyber security (39%)
- AI (39%)
READ MORE: Does your workforce have the right tech skills?
In a skills-scarce business landscape, Singapore’s Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad believes it’s crucial for employers to shift from “buying talent” to “building talent”.
“Business leaders need to support their HR teams as they implement competency-based hiring and on-the-job training programs to ‘build’ talent,” he said.
“At the same time, workers need to be open to learning new skills and embracing new job roles that will enhance their career mobility.”
The study also found that digital organisations perform better than their competition. Digital leaders, which are organisations that consider themselves 'very effective' or ‘extremely effective’ at using digital technologies to advance their business strategies, performed better than their competitors on every aspect surveyed.
These aspects included customer experience (65% versus 49%), revenue growth (55% versus 43%) and profitability in the last year (50% versus 37%).
This is why HR has a bigger, more strategic role to play in the future of work, said Minister Mohamad.
“By understanding companies’ overall workforce needs and optimising workforce development efforts across different business units, HR professionals can be business leaders’ strategic partner in building a stronger, manpower-lean organisation that is ready to tap new business opportunities in Singapore and abroad,” he said.
