Willis Towers Watson survey reveals the disruptive impact of digitalization on employment

Six major trends have been revealed by the “Towards the digital world of tomorrow” study published by Willis Towers Watson, for which more than 1,000 companies around the world were surveyed. 

If the digital transformation of companies is an essential and winning operation both in human and economic terms, not all organizations seem ready: only 23% of structures in Western Europe believe that their digital strategy is adequately integrated. In fact, successfully achieving digital transformation is the biggest challenge facing organizations in the coming years. This success depends on the emergence of a new corporate culture and a new way of managing talent, from recruitment to loyalty.

1st trend: A new digital work ecosystem that is struggling to set up

Organizations are struggling to acquire new digital skills. Only 28% of global organizations perceive digitalization as a transformation of the business model and identity (36% in Western Europe). 65% consider digitalization only as an opportunity for business strategy, innovation policy or productivity, but unrelated to the identity of the company. In addition, the study indicates that only one in four organizations worldwide has a digital director (CDO).

2nd trend: Automation that is accelerating and spreading

92% of professional structures worldwide will use task automation within 3 years. Automation therefore seems omnipresent and inevitable. For the time being, the use of automation and digitalization supports employees for 46% of organizations worldwide (51% in Western Europe) in the execution of operational processes. For organizations undergoing transformation, almost half of them are already using automation to create new types of tasks for employees (43%).

3rd trend: Automation and digitalization are changing employment and recruitment

The digital transformation will redefine not only the way we work, but the jobs and the sources that will do the work. In fact, Willis Towers Watson's study shows that thanks to automation, the professional ecosystem is changing: collaboration and information sharing are improving; employees with specific skills are better paid; flexibility at work increases; and the work can be done in other places. But other transformations will take place within the next three years: the jobs occupied by employees with more skills will increase (+ 23% of organizations will redefine jobs so that they are occupied by this type of employee), and there will be fewer employees overall (+ 21% of structures will be forced to have fewer).

4th trend: More and more frequent use of external labor

The sources of talent will diversify more and more. Consequently, the use of external collaborators will increase considerably in the next three years while the proportion of full-time employees will tend to decrease by 4 points (-6 points for Western Europe). The study reveals that the percentage of the workforce linked to the self-employed will drop worldwide from 3.6% 3 years ago to 5.3% in 3 years.

5th trend: Automation and digitalization creates fear among workers

This development logically raises a lot of concern among employees. Managers and external collaborators are those who are most worried about their future: 40% of managers and 64% of external collaborators fear job loss for an average of 41% of all talents. Also, 2 out of 5 workers believe that their jobs could be automated or relocated within ten years.

6th trend: Attracting, retaining and managing talent are the main challenges facing managers and HR professions

Organizations are struggling to integrate automation and attract talent. While 49% of organizations around the world know how to retain key talents with the necessary technological skills, only 42% know how to attract candidates with this type of skills, 39% integrate casual workers with specialized skills into their teams and only 29% combine automation and talents. This last figure increases to 35% if the organization has been using automation for at least 3 years, proof if it is necessary that professional structures have every interest in taking the bandwagon.

Several areas require sustained innovation to progress in digital adaptation, including leadership development (66% of global organizations want it), talent recruitment (54%) and cybersecurity (45%). Above all, the study by Willis Towers Watson recommends granting these fields of action to ensure the success of a digital transition.

These figures and trends show that leaders must prepare now to orchestrate change. The digital transformation of organizations must be centralized and taken into account globally and not just from a commercial or productive perspective. Above all, companies and organizations have difficulty with the cultural aspects of the digital transition.

Sébastien Biessy, Talent Director, Willis Towers Watson

In fact, the survey reveals that even transforming organizations find it difficult to combine human workers and automation.