Dive Brief:
- For most companies, implementation of machine learning will not involve reducing workers, but retraining them, research from SAP and the Economist Intelligence Unit reveals. The report, Making the Most of Machine Learning: 5 Lessons from Fast Learners, is shedding new light on how businesses plan to use machine learning for growth.
- In a poll of 360 senior executives from North and Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe, 75% of respondents plan to retrain their employees who have been displaced by machine learning.
- Already, organizations are seeing the benefits of adopting machine learning; 41% of these organizations, called “Fast Learners,” report higher levels of customer satisfaction following implementation.
Dive Insight:
Machine learning and automation is coming to the workplace at breakneck speed. HR has seen the benefits — from ATS that manages applicant flow to recruitment tech that matches profiles to positions and mobile apps that complete interview scheduling. But HR must ensure it doesn't lose the human touch with all that automation.
Across enterprises, many employees aren’t excited about automation, even fearing it will ultimately be their replacement. This new survey could put some of those concerns to rest, as many industries are looking to rewire employees for the coming 4th Industrial Revolution. On the plus side, the tech promises employers more time to focus on employee development — increasingly seen as a way for an employer to differentiate themselves in this job seeker's market.
Tech is also making learning, in turn, more engaging and interesting, thus making employers' learning goals more accessible. The very machine learning processes that could replace workers could also be part and parcel in educating them for new, better jobs, as long as employers think ahead and consider the needs of their workforces.
