The world of employment has changed rapidly over the last twelve months, between the advent of hybrid work and the arrival of generative artificial intelligence tools. According to LinkedIn, these developments should continue to influence the way we work in 2024.
The professional social network, which boasts more than 850 million users in more than 200 countries and territories around the world, has tried to anticipate the changes that will shake up the professional world next year. He believes that artificial intelligence and automation will continue to be one of the major concerns of many employees, according to the American magazine Fortune, which was able to consult the conclusions of this new report.
This is not a surprise in itself: LinkedIn had already noted that job seekers show real interest in job offers mentioning this booming technology. Over the past two years, they have seen a 17% greater increase in the number of applications compared to those that do not mention AI.
Generally speaking, workers are aware that they must master artificial intelligence tools to stand out professionally. If experts around the world cannot yet say precisely what an “AI-esque” job market will look like, there is no doubt that employees will have to respond to new needs for complementarity between humans and machines.
For Olivier Sabella, vice president of LinkedIn Talent Solutions for the Europe, Africa and Latin America regions, companies will need to ensure that the skills of their employees are not obsolete to ensure a competitive advantage. “We will see business leaders not only implement technology to improve productivity and remove some of the drudgery of everyday work, but also determine how to equip their workforce with the skills they will need to exploit at best these advances,” he told Fortune.
Craze for greening professions
Contrary to the expectations of many executives and managers, LinkedIn estimates that hybrid working will become the norm in 2024. In the United Kingdom, for example, almost half of the job offers published on the platform offer a professional mode of organization at halfway between face-to-face and remote, compared to only a third in August 2022.
This desire for change can be explained by the fact that teleworking has become a strong aspiration of employees. The latter see, for the most part, a saving of time and greater autonomy in the organization of their work. But their superiors are concerned about the repercussions of the intensive practice of remote working on team cohesion, but also on the productivity of their colleagues.
However, it is very difficult to give up on teleworking, as the pressure is so strong when it is necessary to recruit new talents or retain them. In this context, hybrid working seems to be a good compromise to satisfy all stakeholders in the business world.
Another trend highlighted by LinkedIn, and not the least: the rise of “green professions”. Professions directly or indirectly linked to the environment are increasingly sought after, particularly in the United States, where the position of wind turbine maintenance technician is on the rise, according to Fortune.
However, companies that want to go green struggle to recruit qualified labor. LinkedIn claims that only one in eight workers in the world have the qualifications required to support companies in their ecological transition. Women appear to have more gaps than their male counterparts: 90% of them lack the knowledge or experience to exercise a profession with an environmental purpose.
It is essential that public authorities and businesses anticipate these new needs by setting up innovative training systems so that workers are equipped with the scientific, energy and fiscal skills necessary to build a more eco-responsible future.
