According to a new Willis Towers Watson survey, over the next three years, work automation will surge through a combination of artificial intelligence and robots—which will drastically change not just the workforce but also HR responsibilities.

The survey finds that very few U.S. companies and their HR departments are prepared for how work automation will change their businesses, and moving foward, companies will be less reliant on full-time employees and more reliant on contingent talent.

However, responses reveal that very few companies and HR functions are fully prepared to address the organizational change requirements engendered by a greater dependence on contingent workers and smaller reliance on full-timers.

The Global Future of Work Survey found that U.S. companies expect that automation will account for an average of 17 percent of work being done in the next three years. That compares with the 9 percent of work that companies say is being done using AI and robotics today, and a scant 5 percent three years ago. In addition, 94 percent of U.S. companies that are already using AI and robotics will expand their use of automation in the next three years.

But companies aren’t really ready for the changeover. According to the survey, less than 5 percent say their HR functions are fully prepared for the changing requirements of digitalization, although a third are somewhat prepared and have already taken some action to prepare for the future.

Forty-four percent of companies have begun to address talent deficits through workforce planning and actions, and 34 percent have begun to identify the emerging skills required for their business; 34 percent have started on matching talent to the new work requirements, and 35 percent have begun working on enabling careers based on a more agile and flattened organization structure.

Respondents are also planning action on deconstructing jobs to see which tasks can be automated (51 percent) and finding ways to “reskill” workers whose work will be automated (41 percent).

And while the percentage of employers automating work and seeing an increase in skill premiums is expected to double from its current level of 23 percent to 46 percent in the next three years, over a third (38 percent) expect to apply automation and redesign jobs to lower skill premiums over the next three years.

And 78 percent say that leaders will have to think differently about the requirements and skills for successors and succession management as a result of automation.

Instant Insights /

U.S. employers behind the curve on automation needs

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