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There are five generations in the workplace for the first time in history; each cohort shares cultural/social influences that shaped their formative years. Today, the fourth industrial revolution and Industry 4.0 has leapfrogged the three previous industrial revolutions regarding technological evolution. Artificial intelligence learns much faster than anticipated. Further, some jobs are available where people do not have the skill sets to fill these roles (39% of employers say entry-level job vacancies are related to skills shortage). Nevertheless, technology is an equalizer while every industry is undergoing rapid transformation. Your time is valuable–so here are some clear, simple and straightforward themed insights that you can return to at your leisure and share with your colleagues.
The Silent Generation (1900-1945) experienced both World Wars, financial constraints of the 1930s and worked hard to uphold the values of society by conforming to the status quo and not protesting via activism. Baby Boomers (1946 – 1964) engaged in civil rights, witnessed the assassinations of social justice warriors like John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., and aimed to change the world. Generation X (1965 – 1980) witnessed family instability, the HIV/AIDS crisis and the explosion of Music Television (MTV). Millennials (1981-2000) saw the rise of the world wide web, the election of President Obama and expressed interest in real-time solutions to problems like the global economic crisis of 2008. Generation Z (2001 – Present) observed global terrorism, participated in creating social media content with mobile devices and experienced political shifts like the Trump election and Brexit.
The first industrial revolution (1765) was centred around harnessing steam and allowing society to transition from an agrarian-based to an urbanization-based economy (manufacturing went from being handmade to machine made in factories). The second/technological industrial revolution (1870) was marked by mass production via utilizing electricity and assembly lines, moving science from the laboratory into the factory. The third industrial revolution (1969) introduced mainframe computers assisting society to go from analog to digital (making way for instant/mobile communication). With 7.4 billion people on earth, the fourth industrial revolution (present day) has empowered citizens across the globe to hack the building blocks of science to alter reality–converging and blurring biological, digital and physical spheres (take a look at CRISPR-Cas9).
While all young people during every industrial revolution have sought change, there are vital distinctions about the impact Millennials have in the fourth industrial revolution. The 17 sustainable development goals outlined by the United Nations embrace the Millennial mindset of an organization going beyond achieving the single bottom line marked by financial profit to include social impact (86%). While attaining a double bottom line is a challenge, 88% of Millennials believe that employers should be involved in addressing issues such as income inequality, hunger and the environment.
“AI is the new electricity.” – Andrew Ng
Diversity and inclusion are essential themes as nations experience geopolitical, socio-economic and environmental shifts with technology at the core of this transformation. We have to discontinue the myths about Millennials (unmotivated and self-absorbed) and focus on the facts. As digital natives, Millennials recognize that the world is being reshaped by technology; which means technology is reshaping the workplace to solve dynamic challenges. At 71 million strong in the US today, in 2019 Millennials will have an estimated population of 72 million whereas Baby Boomers are expected to have a population of 71 million. Further, Millennials will account for 50% of the global workforce by 2020. Poised to be the largest generational cohort in the modern workforce, Millennials are familiar with organizations facilitating business transactions using cloud technology (computing services, such as databases over the internet).
Multi-sectoral stakeholders are exploring policies and procedures to implement best practices that increase their probability of managing risk and protective factors. While enrollment in post-secondary education has decreased (enrollment in the US was 19 million in 2016 versus 18.8 million in 2017), S.T.E.M enrollment increased by 2.2%. As per the cloud, this technological advancement allows us to binge watch shows and movies using Netflix or order our hearts’ desires from new data-rich e-commerce companies like Amazon, Alibaba and Flipkart while on break at work. 16% of experts believe that by 2020 the savviest innovators will predict the top apps and gadgets in that year; compared to 81% of experts who say that in the same year the savviest innovators will not anticipate the top apps and devices.
Employees will need to upskill for existing and new jobs that will reflect economic shifts. We have to familiarize ourselves with terms that are no longer merely buzzwords. 3D printing, ambient intelligence in smart homes, artificial reality (AR), analytics, big data, crypto-currency, genomics, internet of things (IoT), and quantum computing are just some of the words that are now part of Industry 4.0’s lexicon. During the third industrial revolution, the US government realized that all of their software depended on intellectual property housed by IBM and Honeywell. As a result, Standford mathematician George Forsythe was asked to create a computer language for government computers, which resulted in computer science becoming a new field of study (his wife Alexandra Forsythe published the first computer science textbook in 1969). 60% of businesses believe that societal issues (education, employee skills development, environmental sustainability and social/geographic mobility) need support from entities beyond their organization to achieve more equitable/stable outcomes in the world.
Leaders in academia, business, government and society at large are realizing that artificial intelligence (AI) has gone beyond replicating human thought processes and has evolved to expand the concept of neural networks; leveraging augmented reality–assisting machine learning with cognitive computing in the areas of language classification, speech to text and visual recognition. Machine learning is addressing complex challenges that are consistently and rapidly shifting across industries. The global workforce is utilizing artificial intelligence to improve efficiency in business while growing the expertise of employees. More than 25% of Canadian jobs will be “heavily disrupted” by technology within the next decade–2.4 million jobs over the next four years (that will require new skills).
Six years ago, 54% of Millennials believed that their managers did not understand their cohort’s use of technology. Today, 86% of Millennials are confident they can develop new skills and learn new technology. Millennials are interested in leveraging tools to enhance the decision-making processes of humans (observe evidence; reference existing knowledge to interpret perception/meaning; evaluate what is right or wrong; and decide on best options to take action) at scale. 80% of data available today is unstructured (information without a pre-defined data model or not organized in a pre-defined manner) and IBM’s cognitive intelligence computer named Watson can efficiently filter said content that is being produced by both humans and robots. Technology in the workplace is helping us to enjoy more data sharing, decision making, effective communication, increased productivity and managing knowledge.
Salesforce announced that their revenue grew by 27% in the second quarter of 2018–to almost $3 billion–with a focus on fourth industrial revolution technology, a commitment to improving the world and a goal of generating $23 billion by 2022. Workflows are changing in the workplace. 15 plus years of learning about and leveraging nonprofit, corporate and government strategic partnerships resulted in me contributing to organizations being awarded $3 million over the last four years. My older-Millennial mindset influences me to believe that we can re-frame deficits (such as robots displacing jobs) and leverage assets (such as: providing relevant training for people to fill new roles) to live in a more equitable world. That said, 30 to 45 percent of the working-age global citizenry is underutilized. Simultaneously, Millennials and Gen Z in the workforce desire managers to a) listen and value their ideas/opinions [51%] and b) mentor and give quality feedback [46%].
Although 75% of Millennials see job-hopping as beneficial (i.e., opportunity to use new skills in more supportive environments), myths revolving this generation (lacking loyalty and having a horrible work ethic) need to be dispelled. With machines outperforming humans in most tasks, more Millennials see technology as producing jobs (78.6%) as opposed to reducing positions in the workplace (31.4%). Since the global economic crash of 2008, Millennials recognize that they are the lowest paid generation in the workplace (with income equality ranked as the fourth biggest issue in both emerging and developed markets among this cohort) and seek employment opportunities that provide work-life integration based benefits (namely, access to technology, flex-time and positively impacting society[63%]).
Millennials represent a large part of the leadership pushing towards leveraging technology in the fourth industrial revolution (although all cohorts in the workplace share many of the same goals). That said, AI is estimated to be worth $15.1 billion by 2030. Currently, image detection and language recognition are being implemented via advancements in technology to assist the medical (detecting early signs of disease using 3D printed tissue) and retail (helping customers find products easier) industries better. AI algorithms help companies with reinvesting profits ($14 billion apparel company Nordstrom doubled revenue by investing in technology) to talent acquisition solutions (71% of companies plan to hire a recent business school graduate into a data analytics role in 2018).
Industry 4.0 has witnessed the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) generate US$2.4 trillion in GDP–making this region the third largest economy in Asia behind India and China and seventh globally. Governments around the world are producing frameworks that assist the private sector in supporting nonprofit organizations with corporate social responsibility. Given that 60% of current occupations have more than 30% of activities that can be automated using technology, leaders are examining the impact this change is having on society. The Canadian government’s global affairs department has a standards navigation tool and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD has a report listing multinational corporation guidelines–both sharing best practices to manage multi-stakeholder relationships that reflect the UN’s 17 sustainable goals. Coincidentally, as we experience technological automation in the workplace, more than 15 million millionaires and almost 2,000 billionaires are alive today.
Success in business translates into greater philanthropic efforts like Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan donating $1.9 billion in 2017; Bill and Melinda Gates allocating part of their more than $95.7 billion fortune, and Warren Buffet contributing $46 billion to causes since 2000. The last 25 years witnessed the rise of 72% of all foundations today. With 72% of Millennials volunteering and 84% of this generation giving to a nonprofit in 2015, this cohort has a global lens with a focus on improving inclusive development agendas. Further, 44% of Millennials occupy leadership positions. As jobs that are performed by humans become more exposed to automation, mid-level and high-level tasks that are manual and repetitive are at risk due to technological advancements in machine learning algorithms that assist robots in performing roles with a higher success rate in a shorter amount of time.
Entrepreneurial creativity which depends on social skills and innovative/complex collaboration with humans will always make room for job creation around the world. As technology becomes cheaper over time (a top of the line smartphone in 2007 cost $499; a phone with the same features in 2015 cost $10), humans will move forward into the fourth industrial revolution and create innovative solutions to make this world a better place. Specifically, leaders across all industries have to adapt to the new global economy by adopting new strategies that meet the need of a newly educated global consumer. Jack Ma recently invested $1 million each year over ten years as an award for entrepreneurs in Africa to scale small businesses that are reminiscent of the nascent economic landscape found in China two decades ago.
20 billion IoT (internet of things) projects are expected to be built by 2020. After speaking with a few industry professionals, I learned that what a project lead would ask an engineer to produce in the third industrial revolution is what a project lead submits to an engineer as a reference point in the fourth industrial revolution–as a direct result of technological evolution. For example, a project lead in the third industrial revolution may have requested that their team of engineers build a product based on pictures (drawing sketches will always serve a purpose when brainstorming). However, in the fourth industrial revolution, a project lead leverages access to large amounts of data alongside intuitive hardware/software and requests that their team build a better version of the product that the fourth industrial revolution allowed them to create as a prototype.
The future of work is dependent on connecting and filtering large sizes of data that the human mind is unable to compute. 70% of leaders believe that they need unique talents and skills and by the year 2020, over 75% of the S&P 500 companies will be new. Not only will departments within an organization have to work together seamlessly, but organizations will also have to figure out how to become a leader in their respective industry’s ecosystem via strategic collaboration. Still, less skilled workers will have an opportunity to perform more robust tasks with the assistance of information afforded to them via technology. Further, highly skilled workers with specializations will be able to leverage the same technology and utilize their expertise by drastically reducing the number of monotonous tasks they participate in and focus most of their time on areas of interests.
The digital economy accounts for 2% of GDP in Canada. Once upon a time in the workplace, humans only spoke with other humans, then interactions included machines and now machines are communicating with other computers without human involvement. Between 2013 and 2016, private investment in AI tripled; witnessing venture capitalists allocating upwards of $5 billion and equity firms upwards of $3 billion. Various industries are learning how to implement AI (artificial intelligence) First strategies that prioritize people.
Big data (comprised of The Three Vs [volume, velocity and variety] introduced by Gartner consultant Douglas Laney in 2001) assists companies with making the best choices to pivot their business strategies. AI allows machines to exercise cognitive functions (conflict resolution and learning from examples) in the areas of reasoning, speaking and vision. Although China is planning to establish an AI industry worth $1 trillion by 2030, less than ten years ago, e-commerce in China accounted for less than 1 percent of global transactions. China, like other countries, is learning what types of data are essential to building companies that are valuable to society.
The digital economy of ASEA is projected to be worth US$22 billion by 2025. Emerging markets are benefiting from AI first strategies by allowing large portions of their population to access innovative solutions, such as India’s Paytm–going from 0 to 200 million Indians accessing the mainstream economy in six years. As digital natives, Millennials have made way for Generation Z to continue communicating and championing issues centred around the displacement of jobs and inequity across society. In turn, 70% of companies are expected to implement at least one type of AI by 2030.
The current Millennial population in China is 27% and 29% in India; 89% of the global Millennial population conducts their banking online–with 50% of this cohort banking on mobile devices. As a business solution, some banks have leveraged AI to reduce processing costs by 80%. As we move from a 4G network that allows 71 megabytes per second to a 5G network that will allow 1.4 gigabits per second, we will see global revenue growth of 36% by 2026. Globalization in the fourth industrial revolution is leaning towards the democratization of access to information while reducing the gap in wealth–making way for crypto-currency and other fin-tech solutions.
AI has become part of popular culture and companies are relying on this technology to make the best decisions based on several inputs of information–becoming more intelligent over time. 72% of people understand what artificial intelligence is. Earliest adopters of AI First strategies have a competitive advantage to produce goods, products and services that reflect their consumer’s needs. Today, companies who want to lead their industry’s ecosystem are working on developing the architecture within their organizations to leverage the power of the internet (A-B testing to learn quickly; short cycle times to deliver products; and reliance on engineers and product managers more than CEOs to make decisions that will profoundly impact their organizations).
AI as autonomous technology will function as an assistant supporting work-life integration, such as Ford’s partnership with Domino’s Pizza to utilize self-driving cars for human-less deliveries. Machine learning will continue to process data and self-correct. Nations around the world are investing in their respective digital economies. France plans to spend 1.5 billion euros in AI First strategies over the next five years. AI First strategies are attempting to strategically acquire data and warehouse findings in a single space for immediate access via engineers or software to pivot when needed and further reinforce their business as defensible. The 2018 United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals Report states
Today’s technology makes it possible to collate the data we need to keep the promise to leave no one behind.
Beijing based artificial intelligence startup company Megvii recently raised $600 million to launch their customer-based facial recognition technology. Obtaining, understanding and utilizing data will require top talent. Organizations have the opportunity to identify where they want to be positioned in their respective industry’s ecosystem and begin reverse engineering their plan to implement the right AI First strategy. When I shared a demo of Google’s Duplex to my mother who is a Baby Boomer, we both were amazed by technology’s ability to understand the context and work on our behalf while supporting businesses.
With STEM jobs paying above the national average and these roles expected to grow by 13% versus other posts (9%), substantial investment in Industry 4.0 is needed to ensure an inclusive workplace culture rooted innovation. Organizations have the power to prevent their businesses from becoming extinct within their industry’s ecosystem. The United Arab Emirates, which is often considered a conservative region with old traditions have launched their Mars Mission focused on space knowledge and highlighed a commitment towards the fourth industrial revolution. The Crown Prince of Dubai launched the Dubai Blockchain Strategy which “seeks to increase government efficiency by transferring 100% of government transactions to the Blockchain network.“
With Millennials expected to be 75% of the global workforce by 2025, this generation “in particular [is] likely to quit a job with substandard technology.” Millennials are seeking leaders and leadership opportunities to help organizations create defensible businesses by accessing and leveraging computing power to automate problem-solving. China accounts for 2/3 of global investment in AI–reporting a 67% growth in that country alone. Further, the Millennial mindset embraces civic engagement and morality (compassion, conflict mediation, empathy and teamwork) to place people at the centre of technological evolution.
Cutting-edge technology is part of the Millennial mindset and this generation understands that proprietary information affords a business competitive advantages in the marketplace. With human and robot collaboration in the workplace becoming normalized, Amazon leveraged new technology to employ 100,000 robots –where humans manage teams of robots. Unfortunately, inter-generational conflict in the workplace still occurs; especially when a pre-Millennial manager misinterprets the passion of a Millennial. Too often, I have witnessed a Millennial make attempts to implement an innovative solution to streamline a creative process that saves the company money, and their action was mistaken as a misguided step by a pre-Millennial manager; expressing that the effort ran counter to traditional business success principles.
52% of companies believed their “digital IQ is strong (a 15% decrease from the year before)”. Companies that create a sandbox culture invest in innovative solutions that allow stakeholders to share their experiences and make predictions in alignment with data. While there are traditional business strategies that help a legacy company navigate the modern workplace, outdated models of conducting business must be detected and dissolved for an organization to succeed in today’s global economy. 37% of CEOs from around the world identified speed of change in technology as an extreme concern for 2018.
Marginalized groups expect to gain access to the data available in Industry 4.0 to solve a variety of problems. Closing the digital gap by decreasing the barriers to access to technology is essential. As the world adjusts to the current realities of the fourth industrial revolution and prepares for immediate change, inter-sectoral collaboration must take on a human-centred approach. 87% of CEOs around the world are investing in cybersecurity to build trust with customers. Businesses that thrive in Industry 4.0 realize that while AI leverages access to individual privacy, customers still expect brands to be humane as people continue to share their digital footprints. 25% of customers believe companies handle personal information responsibly.
70% of consumers indicate that access to technology has made the process of taking their business elsewhere easier; 69% of consumers reveal that personalized customer care influences their loyalty, and 52% of this consumer base will find a new company if said business does not make an effort to customize personal communication with them. Companies around the world benefit from focusing on the nuances of the global citizenry by making pledges to incorporate diversity and inclusion frameworks that meet the needs of said consumers. In the US, ownership and access to desktop and laptop computers varies across racial groups: African-American (69%); Latinx (69%); Asian (83%); and white (87%). Diversity goes beyond race to include gender parity.
In Silicon Valley, women account for 23% of employees in the top companies with less than 100 staff. Unfortunately, the main reason the pay gap between men and women have closed among Millennials is that men’s pay has decreased and women’s pay has remained stagnant. Top talent knows whether or not to apply to a company. 95% of people say that knowledge about a company’s reputation would be somewhat (33%) or extremely (62%) important when applying for a position–and 70% of people would not trust a company if the organization did not have an online presence. In 2017, 33% of senior vice presidents and 30% of vice presidents said that over the next two years they would invest in customer-centric “digital enablement”.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs may need to be revisited to consider the experiences we are having as a direct result of augmented reality impacting our lives (see Figure 1). “15 million girls of primary school age will never get the chance to read or write in primary school compared to about 10 million boys”. Unfortunately, 60% of the world’s population (many are women from low and middle-income countries) lack internet access. Still, emerging markets are in a position to leapfrog in Industry 4.0 by ensuring that the technological prerequisites are in place to successfully participate in the fourth industrial revolution. 61% of manufacturers say that they can self-finance investments which impact productivity by enhancing digital technologies. In 2012, less than 5% in some African countries had low-cost internet access to close the digital gap. Interestingly, more households in developing worlds have a mobile phone than access to electricity and clean water. Our mental health and overall wellness in light of Maslow’s idea of self-fulfilment is centred around individuals being able to reach their potential.
Access to data-rich platforms that require little to zero coding abilities allows us to develop software faster and more proficiently in our pursuit to improve the quality of our lives. Although digital literacy is being incorporated into primary education as the fourth industrial revolution continues to introduce disruptive technology, Millennials and Generation Z are not the only ones embracing digital and mobile. The goal of every nation is to ensure that their population can participate in opportunities available because of technological innovation. Nevertheless, 70% of companies that have invested in technology are unable to scale beyond their pilot projects; while “nine ‘lighthouses'” (out of 1,000 manufacturing sites that utilize successful technology in the fourth industrial revolution) have been deployed around the world with humans at the center of innovation.
As we embrace new business models, Industry 4.0 has assisted me to rethink creative solutions as we navigate the very real realities of diversity, inclusion, and equity–with platforms that leverage but expand beyond HR tools to align employee training with organizational goals. Although 70% of companies are attempting to transform digitally, only 30% are predicted to succeed. While learning new skills to prepare for new professional opportunities, I am fusing entrepreneurship with expanding my formal education–with a focus on research and redevelopment as well as human rights and equity studies. We have entered a world where business assets have evolved from being tangible assets to becoming intangible assets.
As an older Millennial who has witnessed Facebook, Uber and Airbnb disrupt traditional business ecosystems without producing content, without having a fleet of cars and without owning hotel real estate, I am inspired to leverage the democratization of AI to foster a more inclusive global citizenry. Today, a tablet device can process the equivalent of 5,000 desktop computers from the mid-1980s; and whereas 1GB of data would have cost $10,000 in 1997, the cost is $0.03 today. AI is projected to contribute an additional US$15.7 trillion to global GDP by 2030.
While Millennials understand that competition is great for business, this generation also understands that with the technological power afforded to us in the fourth industrial revolution, there is also a need to ensure that humans and the world we belong to enjoy a sense of belonging. For example, wildlife populations have dropped by 58% since 1970 and are expected to decrease by 67% by 2020. Also, 90% of the world’s population lives with polluted air. Industries are converging via cross-sector innovation where shared expertise helps to develop solutions. As Generation Z enters the workforce, the internet of things (IofT) from using chatbots to assessing the frequency of user activity online to automate product recommendations has resulted in 52% of Millennials and 50% of Generation Z believing that Industry 4.0 will augment jobs and allow them to focus on more creative work.
Although companies now have technology that can automatically create profiles of customers based on their digital footprint to facilitate better consumer experiences, this “digital nudge” (behavioural analytics with artificial intelligence) is seen as acceptable (22% of consumers were happy with this exchange in 2015) as long as companies disclose their methods for acquiring user information (data privacy)–resulting in trust. We can all benefit from looking at case studies that explore “technology companies and the extent to which these businesses act with integrity over data sharing”.
A “widening inequality gap” is occurring despite the technological advancement in the fourth industrial revolution. A lack of trust in large organizations has inspired the development of cryptocurrency (see the Canadian government’s use of Ethereum) resulting in the disruption of traditional banking and people beginning to trust the technology of the blockchain. In turn, banks, government and other institutions are becoming more proactive in solving the most critical issues of the global citizenry. For example, investment capital from Silicon Valley supports the future of work via tech startups in emerging markets, like Sequoia’s involvement in California-based Zipline International Inc. that employs a Sudanese 27-year-old Millennial in his homeland which is responsible for delivering blood to medical facilities using a drone.
The digital world and the physical world (see the Trans-Pacific Partnership) will continue to converge as we navigate globalization in the age of Industry 4.0. As demonetization becomes normalized around the world, we are going to experience traditional financial institutions adapt to new consumer realities. With spending power estimated to be $3.39 trillion in 2018, Millennials use a minimum of three financial apps on their phones, and 20% have never written a cheque to pay a bill. Managing the complexity of socio-economic activity is a shared responsibility between the nonprofit, corporate and government sectors.
Innovation across industries require multi-stakeholder collaboration to develop creative toolboxes to scale technology-based frameworks that rely heavily on capital investment. In South Africa, while 30% of all jobs are at risk of automation, this figure will drop to 20% by 2025 as the workforce adjusts to include new digital demands across all occupations. 70% of Millennials use voice assistants to shop while 53% of these shoppers use voice assistants daily. Voice shopping is expected to be worth $40 billion in 2022 compared to $2 billion in spending today.
There is a general consensus that “ambitious companies are looking to sustain their existing production systems while enhancing their efficiencies”. To reiterate, Millennials are interested in double bottom-lines of a company: revenue and positive social impact. Economic gains are seen as a top priority by 44% of Millennials who occupy senior management and board positions, but only 27% believe profits should be the primary goal of an organization. Still, Leanardo Prados de la Escosura’s Historical Index of Human Development (measuring: life expectancy; adult literacy; educational enrollment rates and GDP per capita since 1870) reveals that with the introduction of each new industrial revolution, quality of life developed for the global citizenry.
Many people are justifiably concerned about their role in the modern workplace given the impact of technological change around the world. Not only older workers, but all workers will have to invest in a lifetime of learning to ensure their place in the worldwide workforce. Skills of the future still need to be developed to match the demand of future technologies. About 20% of executives share they lack skills to lead the adoption of automation/artificial intelligence. There is a need to regulate the legislation of ethics and morality in the new digital economy. My role as a nonprofit industry professional who has worked with government and private spheres for nearly two decades has let me know that historically marginalized and vulnerable populations will require additional supports to navigate the socio-economic shifts associated with Industry 4.0.
As someone who often utilizes the gig-economy, I learned first-hand what “load-shedding” is and realized that the way in which people engage the fourth industrial revolution around the world is different. Essentially, load-shedding in this context is a strategy by regions around the world to avoid the loss of computing power by preventing requests of web-services and distributing access among multiple users at different times. I have had a mild panic attack upon losing my wi-fi connection for less than a minute during a business transaction. In some regions around the world, not being able to process an online transaction is a national strategy to ensure all users can equitably access online services.
Again, widespread access to technology, specifically deep learning includes but is not limited to: facial recognition, loan applications and demonetization, advertising via social media platforms, speech recognition, language translation, self-driving vehicles and genetic engineering. 51% of activities in the US economy that are most susceptible to automation account for approximately $2.7 trillion in wages. Interestingly, the displacement of jobs may result in people requesting higher salaries for (higher) productivity in roles that have been traditionally occupied by more workers. While displaced workers can upskill to obtain higher paying positions, there is a financial cost to learn new information. The redistribution of taxes in the fourth industrial revolution is very interesting; recently the universal basic income pilot in Ontario, Canada was scrapped.
We are moving towards “new collar” (not blue or white) jobs that will be made available via retooling (opposed to having a degree), as described by IBM chairman/president Ginni Rometty; evidenced by “Pathways In Technology” (relevant curriculum, mentorship and skills) for the data economy. Training employees to develop digital skills is essential to the success of a business; humans will always be the most excellent resource in a hybrid economy–and a leadership team that cultivates this type of adhocratic company culture is laying down the building blocks for their business to thrive in their industry’s ecosystem.
The World Economic Forum has a framework with “examples of how different stakeholders can contribute to building a robust and inclusive ecosystem for adult reskilling” (Table 2). Technology can and will assist employees whose jobs are redundant to develop new skills to perform more robust duties–contributing to more dynamic solutions in the workplace that translates into business success. The fourth industrial revolution has allowed the neural networks of machines to learn and develop through supervised and unsupervised training to yield better productivity.
As of November 2017, 70% of all adults in the world (3.5 billion people) had less than US$10,000. New models of education and entrepreneurship have to be explored to meet the exponential growth of technology and more importantly the basic needs of the global citizenry. The expanding skills divide across the world has prompted multi-industry stakeholders to implement training initiatives to support professionals at every level in organizations. Multidisciplinary experts are working on creating industry standards that are reflective of narratives from all levels of society. India projects 9% of their 1.3 billion population will be in jobs that do not exist today, 37% of their people will remain in positions with “radically changed skill sets”, and 47% will be in jobs that stay the same. Preparing for the immediate future is imperative for the success of any organization.
HR departments and other executives are in position to help their respective companies navigate the future of work as they unpack concerns, such as: what roles will look like; retooling organizations to nurture internal and external collaboration; onboarding contingent workers; strategic partnerships between startups and large corporations; and implementing AI to work alongside humans. 52% of CEOs are exploring humans and machines working together. The future looks promising as the implementation of new technology is creating new jobs. An estimated 280 million new jobs can be created globally as a direct result of spending from rising incomes ($23 trillion between 2015 and 2030).
As of November 2017, 70% of all adults in the world (3.5 billion people) had less than US$10,000. New models of education and entrepreneurship have to be explored to meet the exponential growth of technology and more importantly the basic needs of the global citizenry. The expanding skills divide across the world has prompted multi-industry stakeholders to implement training initiatives to support professionals at every level in organizations. Multidisciplinary experts are working on creating industry standards that are reflective of narratives from all levels of society. India projects 9% of their 1.3 billion population will be in jobs that do not exist today, 37% of their people will remain in positions with “radically changed skill sets”, and 47% will be in jobs that stay the same. Preparing for the immediate future is imperative for the success of any organization.
HR departments and other executives are in position to help their respective companies navigate the future of work as they unpack concerns, such as: what roles will look like; retooling organizations to nurture internal and external collaboration; onboarding contingent workers; strategic partnerships between startups and large corporations; and implementing AI to work alongside humans. 52% of CEOs are exploring humans and machines working together. The future looks promising as the implementation of new technology is creating new jobs. An estimated 280 million new jobs can be created globally as a direct result of spending from rising incomes ($23 trillion between 2015 and 2030).
As part of the work-life integration, Millennials are on the front lines expressing that the reality of globalization must factor in the impact of technology on rights of workers and citizens in general as part of multi-stakeholder dialogues. Corporate philanthropy like Google’s $150 million investment over the last five years to tackle global education gaps was launched to reduce inequality and ensure people benefit from technological advancement. We also have to educate our technology.
We have to:
As robots receive citizenship around the world (Sophia in Saudi Arabia), we have to remember that innovation is about inclusion and sharing resources via healthy redistribution. A valid concern is whether or not robots will contribute to a tax base granted that a homo-sapiens’ job may become redundant. Additionally, regions around the world will have to respect their citizens and ensure their populations are valued. Inhumane practices committed against people cannot reoccur as we move forward into the fourth industrial revolution. The redistribution of resources in Industry 4.0 globalization has to focus on restructuring countries as we pursue capital gain.
Emerging markets are pushing for a more advanced version of globalization based on the track record of developed markets; implementing strategies that look at the redistribution of resources–a modern take on inclusive leadership. On a rating scale from 1 to 5+ concerning rights for workers (1 = irregular violation of rights; 2 = repeated violations of rights; 3 = regular violations of rights; 4 = systematic violations of rights; 5 = no guarantee of rights; 5+ = no guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law):
With 69 of the 100 economic entities in 2015 not being countries but multinational corporations, the goal is to reduce the 2.3 million work-related deaths, 310 million non-fatal accidents and 160 million cases of illness at work around the world annually. Strategies are needed to manage the holistic experience of the global citizenry better. As the world becomes smaller through globalization, models such as the Electronic World Trade Platform (eTWP) are inclusive and integrated best practices that need to be closely monitored to assist the global citizenry (including the unbanked and underbanked) participate in the mainstream economy through digital technology. The Global Risks Report 2018 by the World Economic Forum finds “Increasingly rich data resources give us better tools to anticipate problems and to track our progress in dealing with them.”
The global citizenry is having a new conversation about utilizing modern technology and embracing digital collaboration without accessing traditional mediums of communication (phone calls or lining up in a queue for in-person visits) which are facing extinction but are still being used by conventional institutions that exercise systematic power. Communication and access to open-source data within an organization cannot solely focus internally and expect to address the issues of their consumer demographic and financial backers. Since 2006, global communication (exposing economies to ideas, research, technologies, talent and best practices) raised world GDP by 10.1% (worth $7.8 trillion in 2014 alone [data flow accounting for $2.8 trillion of this amount]).
The implementation of government measures to pivot and grow in alignment with technological advancements and globalization has reduced barriers to communication (virtual collaboration via video conferencing as well as mobile apps with built-in chat rooms) and has improved opportunities to increase cultural sensitivity translating into new business partnerships across different time zones. Further, in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, collaboration goes beyond a large corporation absorbing a smaller company for proprietary technology to include an appreciation for cultural competency in the workplace–a business model worth $1.5 trillion.
At the same time, PR professionals express the need for new expertise in social media (83%), “data…analytics” (78%) and crisis management (77%). The global citizenry is redefining what human means in the fourth industrial revolution. The data available today can help us guide organizations to navigate: the education process revolving the digital revolution; addressing immediate and future needs of continually evolving systems; how to best redistribute taxes; and talking about what being human means as we coexist with machines and robots. A report from April 2018 highlights:
Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data. To put that into perspective, 90 percent of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone – and with new devices, sensors and technologies emerging, the data growth rate will exponentially accelerate.
The top global issues around the world as of July 2018 are: unemployment (33%); poverty/social inequality (33%); crime/violence (32%) ; financial/political corruption (32%); and healthcare (24%). The global market has been transformed: from the way people seek employment; to witnessing irreversible automation for manufacturing; to an overall expansion of innovation. Wage disparity requires multi-sector stakeholder organizations to develop training programs that teach new skills that match new opportunities (women occupy 5% of CEO positions in S&P 500 companies in 2018). Globally, we are moving away from the mindset of emerging markets merely catching up and embracing the idea of learning how to leapfrog to compete. In the US, women make up 79% of what men earn; in Japan, women earn 74% of what men earn; and in Denmark, women earn 85% of what men earn. Globally, on average, women earn 73% of what men make.
With the digital economy making information ubiquitous, there are opportunities for emerging markets to leverage open-source technology to participate in the mainstream economy. Nevertheless, one report indicates that in Malaysia only 30% of manufacturers are aware of Industry 4.0. Our new economy requires new educational models and more modern government policies and procedures. Nevertheless, international markets (emerging and developed) are working together to ensure nations get ahead. Since 2000, China has gone from being a small investor to the most significant economic partner of Africa and over the last ten years has had an investment growth rate of 40% (reaching $188 billion in 2015). The data available via the fourth industrial revolution has the power to help societies recover from missteps compared to any other time (social investment without war).
Each locale around the world must participate in creating innovative solutions among multi-sectoral stakeholders to help them successfully engage in the fourth industrial revolution. Africa is rapidly increasing their current annual total spending of $4 trillion while their manufacturing output is expected to grow from $500 billion today to $930 billion in 2025. The days of defining globalization by hiring employees around the world for low wages is becoming extinct. China’s average annual income rose from CNY29229 (US$4,270) in 2008 to CNY74318 (US$10,859) in 2018. While this may be true, average yearly revenue in the United States rose from just over $18,000 in 2008 to under $23,000 in 2018. With minimal resources, nations are taking risks by launching research and development programs to implement new technologies that afford opportunities to scale without utilizing traditional infrastructures.
Wages in developed markets remained the same or shrunk between 2005 and 2014. Small businesses are seeking opportunities to participate in the global economy. Global mergers and acquisitions are expected to reach $3.2 billion in 2018 (compared to $2.6 billion in 2017). Technology affords smaller industry players to contribute to their industry’s global ecosystem. Smaller businesses can pivot and disrupt the value/supply chain of major corporations due to the reduction in costs to leverage technology; achieving efficiency levels that meet global standards–a key determinant in company survival concerning Industry 4.0.
Many myths about Millennials suggest that this generation is self-absorbed, unable to manage conflict and expect a trophy just for showing up. Conversely, Millennials welcome both the bad and good news to come up with innovative solutions. Having an understanding of the Millennial mindset is an asset to an organization’s success. For instance, 60% of organizations offer telecommuting opportunities to employees (increased threefold since 1996). By 2020, 4 billion people are expected to be using the internet with 21 billion connected digital devices. Businesses will thrive in the fourth industrial revolution by supporting processes that allow organizations to deploy their talent around the world.
Companies will have to invest in technology to be positioned as leaders in their respective industry’s ecosystem. Between 2007 and 2017 expenses on emerging technology from technology budgets only grew from “roughly 17%…to only about 18%”. Millennials often recognize the data that their respective company possesses and usually begin to brainstorm methods about how to leverage this private knowledge so that their organization can uniquely service the global marketplace as a leader in their respective industry’s ecosystem.
The fourth industrial revolution is experiencing unprecedented rapid rates of change that require the legal system to morph to protect business operations across all departments. The 2008 global financial crisis and the use of Cambridge Analytica to swing votes in the Trump and Brexit elections are examples of data misuse and a reminder that policies and procedures have to be in step with privacy and antitrust laws. Companies like LawGeex are transforming the way lawyers do business using AI. 67% of jobs that rely on analytics skills and data science are in fields outside of AI. Organizations rely on data to understand what is happening internally and externally to ensure their research and development supports their position as an industry leader. There will be a need for multi-sector stakeholder partnerships to review and implement policies and procedures that protect worker rights in a shared-gig-global economy that leverages AI where humans work alongside robots.
There is a need for technology to be ethical (see this guide from IBM)–consulting various stakeholders to ensure that policies and procedures protect the global citizenry. Unfortunately, 48% of Millennials believe businesses are operating unethically compared to 65% in 2017. As a global society that is gaining more access to information concerning the transparency of organizations (and the lack thereof), Millennials are taking the lead in holding the business community more accountable. Industry standards must be monitored by industry peers who assess information that will be made available to the public–as a best practice in business operations. Still, training is needed to compete. 40% of Millennials and 30% of Generation Z believe they have the skills to compete.
To survive in business, you not only have to develop a data asset that will allow you to create a product that attracts consumers but you have to leverage your innovation in creative ways as a mote to fend off competitors. Again, we have to dispel the myth that Millennials are not up to the challenge of working through business problems. 59% of Millennials have been in their jobs for more than three years while only 43% say their current employer is providing learning, development and training opportunities. Fortunately, companies around the globe are shifting their narratives revolving around the Millennial mindset and implementing strategies that focus on inter-generational reconciliation that embrace the voices of minorities through diversity and inclusion frameworks.
Cyber-security will have to be a top priority. In 2016, the mobile space witnessed an 83% increase in smartphone infections between the first and second halves of the year. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has afforded the gig economy (solopreneurs, small startups or contingent workers) the opportunity to leverage data via cost-effective models to disrupt traditional cost-saving departments of large global companies. 33% of organizations with 100,000 or more employees plan to use 30% or more contingent workers by 2020 (56% of all organizations hire contingent workers where specific expertise is outside of their existing workforce’s capabilities). No matter your role in an organization, the use of devices in the digital economy warrants the prioritization of digital security.
Albeit a company like Amazon controls the entire supply chain in their e-commerce ecosystem and a company like Alibaba empowers individual producers and distributors in the various parts of the value chain, each company is a data-based business with a unique model that is a leader in their industry’s ecosystem. Managing access to an organization’s accounts is vital as employers are experiencing socio-economic success using future-of-work business frameworks. As technology evolves, new risks arise, which require new skill sets to over these challenges.
Unfortunately, some people are unaware of the rapid change that is taking place in the job market. In some cases, individuals either do not believe the realities of Industry 4.0 or do not perceive the shifts of the fourth industrial revolution as important. I point nonbelievers to sites like BugCrowd and hackerone for an overview of the types of new jobs available in Industry 4.0 (3.5 million cybersecurity roles will be made available by 2021).
Between 2002 and 2017, 800,000 jobs have been displaced by technology while technology created 3.5 million jobs. People can now have their car service, establish their news network and obtain a financial loan without accessing traditional industries. Learning how to pivot in Industry 4.0 is rooted in facilitating new customer needs. Organizations need to identify their goals and identify which action plans they will use to meet current needs and remain flexible. 18% of manufacturing supply chains have digital connections used for external/integrated collaboration. Further, 13% of businesses know the value of their investment in digital-technology strategies which has the potential of saving large companies $16 billion.
“According to the Education Commission, it is predicted that by 2030, more than half of the nearly 2 billion youth worldwide will not have the skills or qualifications necessary to participate in the emerging global workforce.” Millennials appreciate risk-averse and hierarchical leadership styles as evident in this generation’s request for pre-Millennial coaches in the workplace, while requesting that innovative and egalitarian digital-technology solutions be assessed and synthesized with current business activity. In the last 18 years, 50% of Fortune 500 companies have become extinct. Further, there will always be a segment of the population who chooses to use technological advancement for their selfish and polarizing reasons to erode trust and reduce collaboration.
Approximately 2% to 5% of global GDP (or US$800 billion to US$2 trillion) is laundered to advance illegal/illicit activities. Technology exposes us to injustice and provides space for us to practice harmony and work towards states of equilibrium. Large corporations need to continue building relationships with startups that are industry entrants as a means to proactively increase value in the marketplace. Rural areas, inner cities and emerging markets around the world have the attention of global leaders who see the benefit of technology to solve issues of illiteracy, income and digital inequality and other barriers to social determinants of health. World Economic Forum’s 2018 Future of Jobs Report reveals:
By 2022, no less than 54% of all employees will require significant re- and upskilling. Of these, about 35% are expected to require additional training of up to six months, 9% will require reskilling lasting six to 12 months, while 10% will require additional skills training of more than a year.
Behind the Brands has the tagline “Your Favorite Food Brands Care What You Think!” and in 2016 the Human Rights Campaign Business Coalition of prominent employers with 4.2 million employees and combined revenue of $1.9 billion officially supported federal protections for the LGBT+ community. Large corporations are aware of the issues taking place on the grassroots level and work towards solving conflict to thrive in Industry 4.0. The world is asking for responsible leadership that is responsive to the concerns of citizens which reflect various narratives.
Organizations in the top 25% for gender diversity and racial/ethnic diversity were more likely to have financial returns that were above their national medians by 15% and 35% respectively. Through strategic collaboration focused on collective impact goals, we will develop the type of ethical standards and industry regulations needed to calibrate and troubleshoot outcomes that are unsatisfying.
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Societal benefits of technology have to be measured and informed by contributions from the public. Millennials articulate that without accountability and transparency, organizations run the risk of becoming extinct by no longer accurately servicing customer needs. Project-based education that speaks to individual skill sets will transform how we learn. Millennials want to ensure that the fourth industrial revolution is equitable, reasonable and unbiased based on meta-research. In fact, from a business management perspective, the Millennial mindset that embraces frequent feedback in the workplace aligns with protocol to minimize the chance of trade secrets be publicized (just in case this was ever a concern).
While 70% of leaders believe their organizations are agile and unencumbered, only 40% of their teams share this belief. Information is made available to us like never before due to the advancement of technology, helping us to make the best decisions for the global citizenry. Deepak Chopra says “technology is the universe expressing itself as part of its evolution through the human nervous system”. Markets around the world will continue to leapfrog with technology and allow populations to participate in the mainstream economy faster. As the world’s largest exporter, China went from $250 billion in exports in 2000 to $2.4 trillion in 2016.
Climate change (48.8%), war (38.9) and inequality (30.8%) are the top three concerns of Millennials. Since the global economic crisis of 2008 (where 130 million people fell back below the poverty line), many Millennials have been completing post-secondary education at their own pace to navigate the workforce, develop relevant skills to become a top talent and solve global problems. 87% of executives believe Industry 4.0 will lead to socio-economic equality and stability.
Leaders of organizations are leveraging their existing employees in conjunction with temporary contractors alongside artificial intelligence as every job description transforms. The fourth industrial revolution will impact every professional no matter their skill level. In turn, organizations need to be mindful of their approach to technology to attract top talent. Both older and younger Millennials (76%) consider the corporate social responsibility of a company before working at a company. The World Economic Forum’s white paper entitled Values, Ethics and Innovation reads:
“Ultimately, lessons need to reach beyond the university to build individuals’ skills, so they can influence technologies through their roles as users, consumers, citizens and investors.”
Lawmakers in government have to participate in healthy dialogue with corporations. On the one hand, there is a feeling of desire, expectation and optimism for the fourth industrial revolution and Industry 4.0. On the other side, there is a feeling of confusion, doubt and uncertainty. Ultimately, the pros outweigh the cons. For example, machine learning is exploring neuroscience with Google’s TensorFlow–specifically, in-depth knowledge via AI with an affective layer to computing–adding emotions to algorithms as a means to offset cognitive decision making.
49% of Canadians “trust key institutions – government, media, business & NGOs.” Nevertheless, stakeholders from academia, the art, business, civil society, and politicians are addressing homophobia, misogyny, racism and sexism and other forms of inequality including economic and digital. 45% of Canadians are worried that job loss will result from automation and 48% believe job loss will result from lack of training/skills. Recently, I went to the movies with a friend and one customer service representative sold tickets alongside at least six self-serve machines. Services like SAP’s S/4HANA identify what consumers want, help businesses provide personalized customer service and provide real-time feedback. 90% of consumers will switch brands to support a company that reflects their values and boycott a company due to being irresponsible We are witnessing new conferences that address alternative ways of doing business via innovation, such as Cooperative Platform Economy, Zebras Unite and Universitas 21.
As AI transitions from being automated to autonomous and becomes smarter, 60% of all manufacturing can be automated using current technology. We have the opportunity to ensure the global citizenry has a voice in dismantling oppressive systems and constructing more immediate and solutions-based paradigms and methodologies. The information we have access to must do away with outdated ways of thinking about people, places, things and circumstances. 65% of children entering primary school today will go to work in jobs that do not yet exist (with a high chance that their curriculum will not prepare them for future work at the time of entering the workforce). Together, we can leverage new sources of information to make better decisions for everyone.
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