On the other hand, the point of view from the environment of HR directors and managers is radically different: 45% of them believe that technological advances will create work. Even so, 53% believe that their organizations will have to face the emergence of new jobs and work training initiatives, and a further 89% are aware that technology will have an impact on the management of their organizations' HR.
Part of the fear of European workers may also be because they simply do not see the efforts of their companies to prepare for this impact - in fact, only 59% of employees believe that their company is taking steps to anticipate the effect that these new technologies will have on employment. However, 87% of the human resources managers surveyed by Cegos say they have begun to investigate the impact of technological advances in the fields and job skills.
Training, the main adjustment factor
Faced with this reality, all respondents agree that training is the main component for successfully adjusting to these changes. In the case of workers, 95% of European employees are willing to train on their own to adapt to technological advances.
From HR departments, the plans to successfully face the changes that will occur are: train their teams (79%), reorganize work (55%), hire new talent (42%), and rotate resources within the organization (32%). In this sense, they insist that it is essential to develop a culture of learning that adapts perfectly to the business.
Also according to HR managers, employees of these company should start by acquiring the following behavioral skills: agility and adaptability (49%), learning to learn (45%), and efficient working (41%). In contrast, 24% of HR directors surveyed said they faced a shortage of key skills. The reasons given are the difficulty of developing these skills in 45% of cases, the difficulty of hiring people with these skills (44%), and the difficulty of retaining talent with these skills (24%).
Jesús Araújo, CEO of Cegos Spain and LatAm, commented:
"Employment will undergo powerful changes in the near future. Tomorrow's work will require an in-depth knowledge of technology, which will allow employees to understand the reasoning and requirements of other actors in the system, mixing skills such as: general knowledge, skills interpersonal skills and specific skills for each context. To prepare people for this radical change, we believe that the best response is in the combination of three specific qualities: multifunctional work, cooperation and empowerment. These practices will be essential for the organization of work in companies in a very short time."