The tides of AI change: how to respond
By Nikolaz Foucaud, MD, EMEA at Coursera
It is rare that the global labour market is forced to react to the emergence of a new general-purpose technology. It is even rarer that it has to react to one whose implications are so great, and adoption so quick, as generative AI. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), AI will affect nearly 40% of jobs worldwide, and 60% jobs in advanced economies. University of Pennsylvania research suggests that up to half of jobs will see up to half of their constituent tasks exposed to generative AI.
Decades after automation transformed manufacturing jobs, generative AI’s emergence is now due to also affect white-collar professions that were previously protected from labour market disruption. We are already seeing the early signs of the job disruption to come.
Last year in the UK, BT announced its decision to cut 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade, with a fifth of those due to be replaced by AI. Similarly, Klarna’s hiring chief announced a hiring freeze due to increased reliance on AI. Amidst this change, one urgent challenge for businesses and individuals alike is understanding how to remain resilient and relevant.
Any solution, for enterprises and employees alike, starts with reskilling and upskilling – and Coursera’s recently-released Job Skills Report offers insights into the scale of this challenge. Drawing on insights from five million learners in over 100 countries, the report finds that 60% of workers will need retraining by 2027, but only 50% have access to required AI skills.
Similarly, 62% of workers don’t have the skills to effectively use Generative AI, which will render the UK economy unable to capitalise on the potential productivity gains offered by the technology. The report also finds that four out of five employers report difficulty finding skilled talent, reflecting the digital skills gap faced by two-thirds of UK businesses.
Though the reskilling imperative is a sizable one, it is encouraging that the workforce is responding quickly. Our Jobs Skills Report also records a 157% year-on-year increase in enrollments in generative AI courses on Coursera, defined as searches for ‘AI’, ‘ChatGPT, and ‘generative AI’; employee interest in AI skills surged by 271% year-on-year in 2023.
The report also found an increase in enrollments in courses pertaining to reinforcement learning, critical for achieving machine learning proficiency. There is evidently great desire among workers for knowledge and professional skills in the AI domain.
However, our labour market is also at risk of creating greater inequities in terms of the access people have to these essential technologies and skills. Our Jobs Skills Report also finds that lower paid, lower ranking and less educated professionals have less access to AI. 78% of workers with an income of $60,000 or more reported using genAI, compared to 60% of workers earning less. 87% of executives use genAI compared to 52% of non-managers, and 76% of people with degrees use AI versus 51% without them. There is an urgent need to create more equitable access to generative AI training: the benefits will accrue to both employees and businesses alike.
Tomorrow’s workplaces will demand both AI skills and key business and human skills. Our Job Skills Report also captures the fastest-growing business and leadership skills evolving within the digital economy. For example, marketing skills are among the top ten fastest-growing business skills, led by e-commerce, media strategy and SEO skills. Audit was a leading business skill, demonstrating the focus on protecting data and deploying AI safely. Those that equip themselves with this mix of fast-growing technology, human, and business skills are best placed to ensure their continued relevance in the workplace.
McKinsey estimates that the economic premium from generative AI adoption could total $4.4 trillion. Leadership that prioritises upskilling our workforces at speed and at scale is needed to benefit from this seismic industrial shift. Employees at every level, from every socio-economic background, must have access to the AI skills needed to ensure their resilience as the generative AI revolution accelerates. This is a definitive moment for the future of work, with AI now a critical skillset for everyone. There’s not a moment to lose.
