$3.$ CASE $2-1$: Automation and AI Reshape the Workplace

The robots are coming! The robots are coming! Well, not so fast. Only $5$ percent of all occupations are at risk of being entirely automated by $2025.$ The pace of automation, and thus its impact on workers, will vary across different activities, occupations, and wage and skill levels. Factors that will determine the pace and extent of automation include the ongoing development of technological capabilities; the cost of technology; competition with labor, including skills and supply and demand dynamics; performance benefits, including and beyond labor$-$cost savings; and social and regulatory acceptance.

Workers themselves are not down on new technology. In an Accenture survey of more than $10,000$ workers, $87$ percent felt optimistic about how technology will change their jobs in the next $5$ years. Nearly the same number said they feel ready for those changes. About half of the respondents were described as high skill, with the rest split evenly between low$-$ and medium$-$skill levels. The challenge for employers will be to provide the kind of high$-$quality training employees need to keep their skills fresh. The bottom line is that jobs will change dramatically, and that will force organizations $$ and workers $$ to adapt to the changes.

$3-$Case Question

As a manager, what can you do to help employees adapt to changes wrought by automation and AI$?$