What skills you will need to compete with the Robots in case they take away 50 million jobs in the next decade? 

We had of late debated how will be the impact of Robotics in the employment scenario, and what will happen in case they take away our rule-based jobs, leaving the human labour in quandary. The fear of the unknown has taken unprecedented numbers- automation puts 51 million jobs at risk over the next decade.

Recent research from McKinsey suggests that over 90 million workers across Europe accounting to about 40% of the total workforce may have to significantly develop new skills within their current roles in the coming decade if they aim to stay competitive against robots. The report points that nearly all of the current European employees will face a challenge as robotics takes up most of the rule-based and repetitive jobs. However, though the statistics seem scary, the reports suggest that there is no need to worry, and fast conclusions must not be drawn. The trends and analysis point that the employment growth in other sectors will largely compensate for total job loss.

Addressing the Robotics Skill Gap

A lot may happen in the coming decade if we take into account the impact of Robotics over the next decade. The massive growth of technologies will pave the way for new employment trends, letting Europe discover itself in short of six million employees by 2030. This will be marked with the emerging of new alternatives in fields that need professional expertise. Add to the fact McKinsey anticipates that discovering adequate employees who can fill on the job roles created on the continent will prove to be difficult.

The surge will be seen in case of megacities like London and Paris which will fall short of answering to the call with too few residents certified to fill them. The report pointed out that in areas of dynamic development, less than 60% of the recent jobs will probably be taken up by an adequately skilled employee.

Compensating for the Job Loss

The report points out that almost all of the European workers will face some degree of change, due to technology transformation. Although the statistics seemingly feed into a common fear that robots will be taking over our jobs, although we cannot draw quick conclusions at the present. The research also shows that employment growth in other sectors will largely compensate for the overall job loss.

Though the up-skilling and re-training of the workforce will soar to the highest of to-do listing for enterprise leaders over some years a pattern which has been increasingly accelerated by the COVID-19 disaster. McKinsey's report further suggests that the present roles which are mostly in danger from automation increasingly add to the burden making the workforce highly susceptible to the transformation.

The Workforce Displacement

The three sectors which are more prone to the ongoing tide remains meals companies, customer support and gross sales and construction segments. These work sectors can most certainly displace due to the automation upsurge and now, at the onset of the disaster.

The question remains, where we can look to finding these "rising occupations"?

Manufacturing and agriculture are the two sectors which are losing the race in favour of automation. Particularly, McKinsey analysts point out that the demand for socio-emotional abilities will develop. Human beings will concentrate on roles which cannot be fulfilled by the humans increasingly requiring the technological interplays, in particular caregiving, instructing and coaching, in addition to managing others.

Equally, some new alternatives that include reskilling and knowledge capability addition may emerge to allow a smoother transition for employees as we look ahead in the future. The rise of "cobots" (or collaborative robots) which are specifically designed to simplify the usage of automation for human workers will usher the new revolution. The future is not so far where it could appear that robots are coming to the office as our next-generation co-workers.