• Agenda
  • Initiatives
  • Reports
  • Events
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Leadership and Governance
    • Our Members and Partners
    • Communities
    • History
    • Klaus Schwab
    • Media
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • World Economic Forum USA
    • Privacy and Terms of Use
  • EN ES FR 日本語 中文
  • Login to TopLink

We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. By using our website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our updated Cookie Notice.

I accept
    Hamburger
  • World Economic Forum Logo
  • Agenda
  • Initiatives
  • Reports
  • Events
  • About
  • TopLink
  • Search Cancel

Report Home

<Previous Next>
  • 1. Executive summary
  • 2. General findings
    • 2.1 The state of the market
    • 2.2 The four phases of the Industrial Internet evolution
    • 2.3 Key near-term opportunities and benefits
    • 2.4 Major challenges and risks
  • 3. Convergence on the outcome economy
    • 3.1 From connected products to software-driven services
    • 3.2 The emergence of the outcome economy
    • 3.3 Delivering outcomes through connected ecosystems and platforms
  • 4. Shift towards an integrated digital and human workforce
    • 4.1 Enhancing productivity and work experience through augmentation
    • 4.2 Creating new jobs in hybrid industries
    • 4.3 Reskilling for digital industries
  • 5. Recommended actions for stakeholders
  • Appendix A: About the research
  • Appendix B: Glossary
  • Acknowledgments
Industrial Internet of Things Home Previous Next
  • Report Home
  • 1. Executive summary
  • 2. General findings
    • 2.1 The state of the market
    • 2.2 The four phases of the Industrial Internet evolution
    • 2.3 Key near-term opportunities and benefits
    • 2.4 Major challenges and risks
  • 3. Convergence on the outcome economy
    • 3.1 From connected products to software-driven services
    • 3.2 The emergence of the outcome economy
    • 3.3 Delivering outcomes through connected ecosystems and platforms
  • 4. Shift towards an integrated digital and human workforce
    • 4.1 Enhancing productivity and work experience through augmentation
    • 4.2 Creating new jobs in hybrid industries
    • 4.3 Reskilling for digital industries
  • 5. Recommended actions for stakeholders
  • Appendix A: About the research
  • Appendix B: Glossary
  • Acknowledgments

4. Shift towards an integrated digital and human workforce

p3header

 

Share

Our survey research shows that the broad adoption of the Industrial Internet in many industries will lead to a structural shift in employment (see Figure 5). A vast majority (94%) of respondents believe that the increasing use of smart products, intelligent assistants and robots will fundamentally transform what skills and jobs are required in the future. As machines become more intelligent, they will play new and more important roles in many types of work situations. Companies will use machines and network systems to automate tasks that can be done at lower costs and higher quality levels. At the same time, such automation will free up people to focus on the more human elements of their jobs like creative problem-solving and collaboration. The combination of humans and machines will be the winning formula, yielding higher overall productivity and a more dynamic, engaging human work experience.  

In time, the Industrial Internet will drive the world towards a blended workforce, where it is no longer humans versus machines but humans with machines, working together to deliver outcomes that neither could produce alone.32 By designing and applying technology to empower rather than replace people, this “human-centred automation”33 or augmentation can redefine existing jobs and give rise to new ones. It will also reshape how skills will be acquired – an area that will become critical as a result of the rapid pace of change in digital technologies.

32
32 Brynjolfsson, Erik and Andrew McAfee. “The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies”. W.W. Horton and Co., 2014.
33
33 Carr, Nicolas. “Automation Makes Us Dumb”. The Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2014. http://www.wsj.com/articles/automation-makes-us-dumb-1416589342?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsFifth.
Back to Top
Subscribe for updates
A weekly update of what’s on the Global Agenda
Follow Us
About
Our Mission
Leadership and Governance
Our Members and Partners
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Communities
History
Klaus Schwab
Our Impact
Media
Pictures
A Global Platform for Geostrategic Collaboration
Careers
Open Forum
Contact Us
Mapping Global Transformations
Code of Conduct
World Economic Forum LLC
Sustainability
World Economic Forum Privacy Policy
Media
News
Accreditation
Subscribe to our news
Members & Partners
Member login to TopLink
Strategic Partners' area
Partner Institutes' area
Global sites
Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Open Forum
Global Shapers
Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship
EN ES FR 日本語 中文
© 2022 World Economic Forum
Privacy Policy & Terms of Service