The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and, most recently, the rapid proliferation of generative AI (GenAI) has raised both interest and concern among employers and their employees.
Initially, there was understandable concerns among employees that AI would eventually come for their jobs. While that concern has ebbed in some circles, there’s no evidence to suggest that some of these concerns may be coming to fruition.
A survey of more than 1000 employed Americans by Clarify Capital, a small-business-loan provider, revealed that 86% of executives surveyed have plans to replace entry-level roles with AI—almost one out of six have already done so.
The top roles being replaced by AI include data entry clerks (59%), fact-checkers (46%), and copywriters (43%).
More than one-third of employees (34%) are threatened by the potential impact on their jobs—contrasting with more than half (51%) of executives who feel optimistic about these trends.
One way to combat concerns and pave the way to greater acceptance and adoption of AI among employees, is through upskilling to help them develop new skills to prepare them for other, hopefully more challenging, and highly paid, roles.
That’s exactly what some companies are already doing. While 28% of responding companies said they were more likely to invest in AI than upskilling, that still leaves a healthy majority that recognize the value that upskilling can bring to their organizations and their staff members.
Employees represent significant investment in human capital—value that should not be casually squandered. Helping loyal employees develop new skills to remain relevant, productive, and engaged can increase loyalty, reduce talent acquisition costs, and help employers establish strong reputations as being great places to work.
Finding the right balance between automation and upskilling—and keeping the lines of communication open—can help companies navigate these uncertain times and minimize dissatisfaction and turnover.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.
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