TOP 5 News on the World of Work You Need to Know
Our selection of must-reads on the world of work this week looks at the challenge of remote employees, the rise of AI and how to prepare for unforeseeable new jobs.
December 13, 2019
#1. Drowning In The Global Talent Pool: What You Need To Know Before Recruiting Remote Workers
It’s 10 pm, do you know where your employees are? Increasingly, they might be at work… somewhere. Borderless recruiting pools and the growth of technology make it possible to have a remote workforce that could be anywhere in the world. As this Forbes piece points out, employees love the flexibility, and many say they would take a pay cut to accept a job that offered remote work as an option. However, hiring remote workers is not without risk and this piece is a good primer on what to consider before you get started.
#2. The Future Of Work: 4 Critical Factors For Managing Remote Workers
Once you’ve hired your remote workers, how do you manage them? That’s the question dealt with by this piece, which notes that two thirds of companies allow remote working and one in five are completely remote. Dealing with that isn’t easy. Leaders must trust that their staff is getting the work done and must instill a ‘corporate literacy’ that keeps everyone focused on communication and tracking what they are doing. The trend is going away, so companies have to adapt.
#3. Twitch shows how hard it is to foresee the jobs of the future
Tens of thousands of video gamers are making money by streaming their efforts on Twitch, Amazon’s game-focused video platform. Some of them have tens of millions of followers, and they are doing a job that, even a decade ago, few could have predicted would exist. It’s an example of the challenge society faces in preparing people for “unforeseeable new roles”, explains this FT article. The lesson for business, the piece concludes, is to think about training in a new way.
#4. Management and employees both enticed by the idea of AI
What do employees think about AI? They’re scared that it will take their jobs, right? Not so, according to a survey from customer experience company Genesys, detailed in this HR Review piece. They found that 68 percent of employers are eager to work with AI – no surprise there – but it turns out that 64 percent of employees also welcome the rise of the machines. However, employees say they need training to work with AI and 86 percent of them say their employer should be responsible for that training.
#5. Eight business leaders explain why you don’t need a college degree to be successful
And finally, Business Insider talked to eight business leaders who argue that a college degree is not necessary for business success. “Time is money,” says one founder, who argues that if he could go back in time he wouldn’t bother with his degree. “I asked myself where I wanted to be one day and how I could get there quickest,” says another. This chimes with The Adecco Group’s recent research which found that 51 percent of Gen Z’ers believe that CEOs will not need college degrees by 2050.