For years, the technological changes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution have ushered us closer and closer to the future of employment, as emerging technologies automate work processes in some roles and industries and create new opportunities in others. The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the transformation.
The future of jobs is almost here. COVID-19 has upended economic activity around the world, causing spikes in unemployment in many countries and deepening inequalities across economies and societies. To put it into historical context, the pandemic has destroyed more jobs in two months than the Great Recession in the United States did in two years.
The just released World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report found that more than 80% of employers expect to make wider use of remote work and to digitize working processes. About half of all employers are also preparing to automate some jobs. Unless more is done to invest in job growth and industries, we may be heading for a jobless recovery. Data shows that those who are currently being displaced from the labor market are on average more likely to be female, younger and have a lower wage.