PwC Australia's CPO says workers should focus on upskilling, not fear AI-driven job losses
The chief people officer of PwC Australia believes that some roles will end up disappearing because of artificial intelligence, but stressed that workers should not be too worried about that future.
Karen Lonergan, PwC Australia's CPO, acknowledged that AI adoption will likely lead to some roles disappearing, citing historical patterns when it comes to technological advancement.
"What we've seen with every other phase of technology change is that the technology changes the nature of some of the work we do and it does sadly mean that some roles end up not existing anymore, but it does always create a whole lot of other roles and those other roles are the essentially human roles," Lonergan said in the podcast.
Instead of thinking whether AI will come for humans' jobs, the CPO told people to be more concerned about not investing in their skills and development amid AI adoption.
"People often say, should I be worried about AI? Being worried never really helps, but taking action does," she said.
Lonergan said people need to focus on upskilling so they can augment their current skills with AI and become more productive, effective, and creative at work.
"Acting is the key. We shouldn't be worried about AI. We should be worried about not investing in skills and development," she said.
It is also critical that organisations bring people with them on their AI journey by helping them build skills for the future.
"The focus has got to be how we build skills that people can use in the future," she said. "'Grow here. Go further' is the tagline that we use for our employment brand. And I think that is particularly valid for an AI-first world."
Lonergan made the remarks as a new government report indicated that AI adoption has not yet triggered a major upheaval in Australia's job market.
It did, however, indicate a slowdown for some roles that are highly exposed to AI tools.
AI in addressing productivity challenges
Beyond the jobs debate, Lonergan also acknowledged that AI will have an impact on Australia's productivity.
AI is already being considered by the government as a potential solution to Australia's stagnating productivity problem.
The Productivity Commission recently predicted that the technology will deliver productivity gains above 2.3% in the next decade, with labour productivity growth estimated at 4.3%.
"Productivity is one of the essential challenges of our generation of leaders within Australia and we have to use AI as part of the solution," Lonergan said. "But real productivity improvements only come when you stop doing one type of task and you do a more value-adding type of task."
At PwC, Lonergan noted that AI is taking away lower-value kinds of work so employees can focus on things that deliver to clients.
"That's the sort of work that will have the impact on helping teams deliver better outcomes, whether that's in a healthcare setting, whether that's in a financial services setting, or for us in a professional services setting," she added.
