Upgrading yourself for the future of work. Reflections on the 2024 Work Trend Index.

The research is clear. Those who have not yet embraced AI risk falling behind in today’s job market.

“The AI future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed. And it’s up to us how to best leverage its potential to humanise work and learning.”

-????????????? My view, adapted from William Gibson.

We have experienced many technological disruptions over the centuries but only occasionally do we live through one as transformational and immense as AI.?

AI is already here in the day-to-day and will be more disruptive than the internet, and likely more life-changing than electricity.

No aspect of our world will remain unaffected, and this is especially true for the future of work and learning.

The research is clear, AI is here to stay

The recently released 2024 Work Trend Index from Microsoft and LinkedIn makes the pace of change abundantly clear.

• 84% of Australian knowledge workers now use generative AI at work (usage almost doubled in the last six months).
• Three out of four Australian leaders say they would not hire someone without AI skills. (c.f. two out of three global leaders)
• 79% of Australian leaders would rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them. (c.f. 71% of global leaders)

The report looks at how AI will impact and reshape work and the labour market broadly, surveying 31,000 people across 31 countries. It shows that the introduction and integration of AI signals a new era for the workplace.

Are you paying attention now?

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Preparing your organisation for the new era of work

In the report, Professor Michael Platt, points out that the findings:

“…align perfectly with how our brains manage the trade-offs between routine task execution and innovation. When we’re constantly switching, we don’t work as well”.

He suggests that AI is used to support employees to manage cognitive load by completing basic or menial tasks, increasing productivity and organisational efficiency gains, while leaving time and space for creative activities, the ones that cannot be automated.

At The Learning Future , this aligns with our vision for the future of work and learning: not an AI-future, but a hyper-human future augmented with AI, one where people are engaged, inspired, discerning and, dare I say it, joyful at work.?

Ultimately, mindset matters but actions count.

As we move past AI experimentation and into business transformation, organisations, and the business leaders and talent professionals in them, need to take a strategic approach to AI that’s skills-first, human-centric, and learning-led.

The key practical takeaways from the 2024 Work Trend Index report for leaders who are ready to lean in:

1. Identify a problem or opportunity, then apply AI: There are efficiency gains to be had across every function— the key is to pick a process and apply AI to it, whether that be to enhance upskilling initiatives for greater employee engagement or automate routine recruitment tasks to free up time for more strategic work.
2. Take a top-down, bottom-up approach: Going from experimentation to transformation requires engagement at every level of the organisation, from the CEO to the entry-level employee.
3. Prioritise AI training and learning: AI power users—those who use AI at least a few times a week and are saving 30 minutes a day —aren’t doing it on their own. They receive ongoing training, both on universal tasks and uses more tailored to their role and function, emphasising the importance of an organisation-wide learning culture.

How do we ready the future workforce with AI skills?

What the report also demonstrates is a widening gap between the worlds of education and business, and its implications for our future workforce.

Key challenges:

• Young people who are not adequately prepared with the necessary baseline skills and knowledge of AI will be outperformed by those who already integrate working in this way. The report data reveals that 74% of Australian leaders say they would not hire someone without AI skills (an even higher percentage than the 66% global average)
• Students’ own AI applications are almost routinely streets ahead of that of teachers and schools, and sectors need to grow teacher capabilities.

The Work Trend Index makes us reflect on how to best support schools and universities to shift so that tomorrow’s workforce is ready for an AI-first workplace.

The answer is holistic education and training in AI—starting with general education in schools, continuing with universal training as graduates enter higher education or vocational training and ongoing learning in the workforce, with role-specific training that keeps them upskilling as technology evolves.

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The future is learning

In this unknown future, your biggest asset is your capacity to learn in life-long, life-wide and life-deep ways.

For businesses, you need to outlearn yourself to stay ahead. You don’t need to become a master of AI but you do need to be comfortable with AI.?

For everyone, start today.

The focus now needs to be on preparing the future and current workforce to seamlessly transition into a world rapidly growing with AI. This process of navigating the unknown is uncomfortable. It is also the key underpinning for the future of work and learning.

AI is not going anywhere. In fact, it’s likely going everywhere.

Let’s make sure it helps us to do our best work every single day.

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Read the 2024 Work Trends Index report for more insights into the state of AI at work.