Upwork Newswire: How Can You Leverage The Augmented Workforce?

This biweekly column features the latest freelancing trends and Upwork’s role within them.

Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends:
The future of work: The augmented workforce

Deloitte describes their recent Global Human Capital Trends report as a “call to action for HR and business leaders.” The way we work is changing, and while individuals might adapt quickly, Deloitte notes that organizations aren’t matching that pace.

The report identifies 10 trends for attention and action. One of them is the augmented workforce, a shift toward artificial intelligence, robotics, and the open talent economy.

“Almost every job is being reinvented…. As this trend gathers speed, organizations must reconsider how they design jobs, organize work, and plan for future growth.”

When it comes to rethinking work—looking at ways to “create new jobs, boost productivity, and allow workers to focus on the human aspects of work,” such as communication, personal service, and problem solving—most companies say they’re ready to make the shift. Seventy-seven percent say they’ll either retrain people to use tech to their advantage, or redesign jobs to suit the strength of human skills.

However, when it comes to human capital, such as the growing freelance economy, they’re far less prepared. According to Deloitte, while a majority of companies feel they’ll increasingly tap into different talent sources over the next few years:

“…only 49 percent say they are not able to manage contingent labor well and 55 percent say they have never used or do not understand how to leverage crowdsourcing.”

Embracing this reality of the modern world of work takes a shift in perspective. For example, Deloitte suggests considering a number of strategic questions, including:

• What is the human “value add” around key skills that might otherwise be automated?
• Where does work—or specific types of work—need to be done?
• How can people be used to “save time and money, increase quality, and improve operational flexibility and scalability?”

Driven by the fast evolution of technology, Deloitte says that among all the trends they’ve identified, the future of work is likely to accelerate most rapidly over the next few years. That means defining the difference between “essential human skills” and “nonessential tasks”—then planning to leverage both.

By considering solutions like the contingent workforce, companies can be better prepared to keep pace with the new rules of work. Learn more by reading the full report from Deloitte, “The future of work: The augmented workforce” >>

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