Businesses that fail to embrace AI at scale will not survive beyond 2030, according to 54 percent of executives surveyed in Mercer’s 2024 Global Talent Trends Study.
However, employers looking to harness this technology face a lack of skills, talent and serious concerns from employees about burn out.
The rapid growth in generative AI has raised employer hopes for workforce productivity with 40 percent of executives predicting that AI will deliver gains of more than 30 percent. Senior leaders believe AI is key to increased productivity but they also think most workforces are not ready to transform. More than half (58 percent) believe the technology is advancing faster than their firms can retrain workers. And only 47 percent agreed that they can meet this year’s skills demand with their current talent model.
In 2023, trust in employers fell from its all-time high in 2022, Mercer said. This is a “red flag”, the report warned, as trust has a major impact on employees’ energy, ability to thrive and intent to stay.
Building individual employee resilience will be important as AI continues to evolve in the years ahead. But four out of five (82%) employees said they were concerned that they will burn out this year. Mercer said it is now critical to redesign work for employee wellbeing to mitigate this risk.
In the UK, 54 percent of executives agreed that redesigning work to incorporate AI and automation will deliver substantial business growth. But only 4 percent of UK business leaders think their current workforce is sustainable and skills-ready enough, with an adaptable pipeline of talent to achieve this.
“Raising productivity through AI is top of mind for executives but the answer does not lie in technology alone. Greater workforce productivity requires intentional, human-centric work design,” said Kate Bravery, global talent advisory leader at Mercer and study author. “Leading companies recognise that AI is just part of the equation. They are taking a holistic view to address drains on productivity and deliver greater agility through new models of human-machine teaming.”
There are further challenges in finding a sustainable path to the future of work. Three in four (74 percent) executives are concerned about their talent’s ability to pivot and less than a third (28 percent) of HR leaders are very confident they can make human-machine teaming a success. The key to greater agility is embracing skills-powered talent models, something high-growth companies have already mastered.
Pat Tomlinson, president at Mercer, said: “This year’s findings highlight staggering shifts at work. They point to a notable divergence between the views of the c-suite and HR on what will carry business forward in 2024, and a lag in employees’ views on the impact of technology. As we usher in an age of human-machine teaming, organisations need to place people at the heart of transformation.”
Mercer’s 2024 Global Talent Trends Study was based on insights from more than 12,000 c-suite executives, HR leaders, employees and investors globally.
