The panel Shaping the (Digital) Future of Work: How to Bridge the Divide Between Humans and Technology, held at the Bled Strategic Forum (BSF) on Tuesday, discussed how the advancement of technology will impact future jobs. There was broad agreement that change is, and will be, profound. One of the conclusions was that people should not be afraid of robots but of becoming robots themselves as they forget how to connect to each other.
At the panel held in partnership with AmCham Slovenia, Dr Alexander Plekhanov, Deputy Director of Research at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), noted that the advancement of technology created job polarisation around the world.
In Central and SE Europe, you have the same degree of job polarisation as in the advanced economies in the EU. “The middle-skill jobs are disappearing while low-skill and high-skill jobs get created,” he added.
Plekhanov also pointed out that part of the problem were demographic changes, including longer life expectancy, as people have to work into their 70s and deal with technological change. “Age is a very important new aspect.”
Ms Tamara Pavasović Trošt, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Economics,
University of Ljubljana, said that the problem with the future of work was that a lot of research was done by companies that are only looking to increase productivity.
They are looking for new skills, and want to adapt and embrace robotics, but “we also need people who will study the future of relationship between humans and technology, people from social sciences who will ask important questions.”
But Pavasović Trošt also admitted that the education system was actually the slowest segment of society to adapt. “They need to add more new skills,” she said, adding that the aspect of humanities should not be neglected.
Ms Tina Mendelson, Principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP, USA, said that the future of work should be looked at from the perspective of serving clients, while pointing to the important trend of convergence of technology.
“When you look at the future of work, you have to look at trends, but you have to be ahead of the game,” she said, noting that things were also changing with new talent, as millennials enter the job market.
“50% of our workforce are millennials – the values they brought have changed how we deal with talent and we had to fundamentally change how we operate,” said Mendelson.
Mr Patrick Cowden, Founder of Beyond Leadership, Germany, said that after working for 35 years in IT, he realised that he had lost connection with human beings and the values cherished by his ancestors.
“Money is not the most important thing, but the moments of deep connections with people are”, he said, adding that if people gave up human interaction, they gave everything up. “Technology has to serve us, and not vice versa.”
