Curiosity will define the #NewWorldOfWork

I’m an optimist when it comes to automation and jobs. While millions of people will soon find that their job – or at least, part of their job – will be transformed or eliminated, I believe that many more roles will be created for those with the right qualities. When the best of humans and machines work together, the possibilities for innovation and the creation of entirely new industries and job types will be endless.

In the #NewWorldOfWork, a person’s value will be tied to their curiosity and desire to constantly (and quickly!) learn, grow, and change, not their current expertise and knowledge base. Qualities like creativity and empathy will also be more valuable than ever before, and people will need to be much more comfortable with ambiguity and fluid, unstructured jobs.

Reskilling and transforming education will, of course, be important, but it can’t be “one-and-done.” Constant reskilling must become the norm, as the nature of jobs will morph all the time. To set the workforce up for success, business and government leaders need to come together to create opportunities so workers can both stay up to speed on the latest STEM skills, and develop their “right brain” skills, such as critical thinking.

We’re seeing companies begin to prioritize reskilling, but there’s a lot of work to be done. We recently partnered with Fortune Knowledge Group to survey 300 C-suite and senior executives about their AI strategies, and found that while 82 percent of leaders plan to implement AI in the next three years, only 38 percent provide reskilling and training programs to prepare their employees for this new work environment. We need to get this number to 100! 

How are you preparing for the #NewWorldOfWork?