Job Market's Workforce Adaptability Crucial
In a recent statement, UNI Global Union has highlighted the need for immediate attention towards job displacement caused by digital change, acknowledging that it is not a new phenomenon but the scope and speed of digital transformation require urgent action.
The union does not specify any new methodology or report in predicting the job displacement, but it emphasizes the importance of employability measures such as up-skilling, reskilling, lifelong learning, and adaptations to vocational and education training. UNI Global Union also considers the need for changes in higher education institutions to address the job displacement issue.
While UNI Global Union does not reference any specific studies on jobs as a set of tasks in this context, studies by the Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim (2016) and Deloitte Consulting (2016) focus on jobs as a set of tasks. The World Bank Development Report 2016, on the other hand, uses the methodology of Frey and Osbourne (2015) to predict substantial job displacements. According to the report, these job displacements will lead to a hollowing out of middle-level jobs and a labor market taking on a time-glass shape with a growth in manual, low-skilled jobs and a growth in high-skilled ones.
In response to the impending job displacement, UNI Global Union emphasizes a proactive policy and strategy change. Current strategies to ensure worker employability amid job displacement from AI, machine learning, and automation focus on continuous upskilling, flexible work models, personalized career development, and supportive workforce policies.
These strategies include continuous learning and skill development, flexible and hybrid work models, earn-and-learn programs, expanded access to financial supports, targeting recession- and automation-resistant sectors, using AI-powered career guidance platforms, and policy reforms under workforce innovation acts.
Together, these strategies reflect a multi-faceted approach combining technological tools, flexible work design, financial support mechanisms, and policy modernization to boost employability and resilience against technology-driven disruption.
UNI Global Union, however, does not discuss the hollowing out of middle-level jobs or the time-glass shape of the labor market in this context.
[1] World Economic Forum. (2021). The Future of Jobs Report 2020. [2] McKinsey & Company. (2019). Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of work will mean for jobs, skills, and wages. [3] Burning Glass Technologies. (2019). The Skills Gap in the Age of Automation: Reimagining Workforce Development.
- The need for technology-driven skills training, lifelong learning, and adaptations in education and self-development programs becomes increasingly vital, as highlighted by UNI Global Union, to combat the impending job displacement linked to AI, machine learning, and automation.
- A proactive policy change, including personalized career development, flexible work models, and supportive workforce policies, are crucial employability measures advocated by UNI Global Union in response to the digital transformation that causes job displacement.
- In alignment with World Economic Forum's The Future of Jobs Report 2020, McKinsey & Company's Jobs lost, jobs gained: What the future of work will mean for jobs, skills, and wages, and Burning Glass Technologies' The Skills Gap in the Age of Automation: Reimagining Workforce Development, continuous learning, financial support mechanisms, and policy modernization are essential components for boosting employability and resilience against technology-driven disruption.
