4 Takeaways for the Future of Work from Davos 2023

This year, the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting gathered in Davos under the theme of “Cooperation in a Fragmented World.” Among the many topics crowding the agenda, leaders addressed the three trends affecting the world of work most severely: the green transition, digitisation and the current labour shortage.

"Upskilling and reskilling is a major challenge that all of us face and where companies absolutely have to accelerate," explained Denis Machuel, CEO of the Adecco Group.

Bettina Schaller, SVP Head of Public Affairs at the Adecco Group, ardently echoed his stance: “Talent scarcity is the number one topic that’s keeping everybody up at night."

But companies cannot solve this problem alone. Companies and the public sector must collaborate to make the future work for everyone. Thankfully, it seems they are on the same page. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, provided a focal point to Davos as she announced a new European Green Deal and declared 2023 the year of skills. She underlined the vital importance of the global workforce in making the green transition a success.

From a week of lively sessions exploring every facet of the future of work, four key takeaways stood out.

Put people at the core

Denis Machuel, in his first Davos appearance as CEO of the Adecco Group, described the central role of people in solving the world's problems. “Now more than ever the world needs to shift its focus to human-centricity, as the most crucial asset to solving the challenges facing societies across the globe are people.” In a session on living wages, he reminded companies that considering people as a cost instead of an investment in people was fundamentally wrong.

Beyond salary, putting people first means valuing them as individuals. It means creating an environment where they can thrive, progress and be their true selves. For companies and workers to get the best out of each other, they need shared values and aligned goals. Our Global Workforce of the Future data show empathy in leadership is key. In fact, empathetic leadership is a crucial factor in a worker’s decision to leave a job - a trend worth remembering in the context of the ongoing Great Resignation. 

“Care becomes a new imperative,” explained Valerie Beaulieu, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at the Adecco Group. “The succession of crises since the pandemic just shows that uncertainty is here to stay. Empathy becomes one of the most critical traits we need to develop as leaders. We must learn how to build EQ and drive empathy.”

Skills are the new currency

The ever-changing world of work needs a workforce that can keep up. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, reminded the world of the severity of the skills shortage issue in her address and outlined skills as one of the four pillars of her new European Green Deal.

The urgency of the matter is felt by workers. 77% of workers don’t feel like they have the skills for the future. The solution for this isn't future-proof skills, Valerie Beaulieu suggested. It's creating agile workers that have opportunities for lifelong learning.

This means the traditional education system must be reviewed. Allen Blue, VP Product Management and Co-Founder of LinkedIn , explained that tectonic shifts in the labour market like the green transition and digitisation encourage employers to look beyond qualifications and degrees. These transformations open up the talent pool and bring skills to the fore.

Christophe Catoir, President of Adecco, echoed this conviction and urged companies to train their managers to look beyond the traditional signals used by recruiters.

“When I started my career at Adecco in Finance 27 years ago, I would have never thought to progress beyond that expertise – but I had a great boss and coach who suggested a move to sales as my next career step,” he said. “We need leaders as coaches and regular human interactions to support and guide employees of what’s possible in terms of skills. And we need to help train our managers so they can identify potential, motivations and soft skills.”

Technology to nurture skills, not replace them

Creating an agile workforce that thrives on perpetual learning demands scale and speed, and technology like augmented reality and artificial intelligence can help pick up the pace. “If we want to upskill at volume, speed is of the essence,” reminded Valerie. “We can use technology to shortcut the training cycle.”

We need artificial intelligence (AI) to become a skills-based economy, according to Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer of Workday, Pete Schlammp. These technologies can help examine and support employees at scale, something which isn't effectively possible at the moment. How do you extrapolate the learnings, skills and experiences of 1,000+ employees? AI can map out the skills in a company and identify who can be up or reskilled to fill any gaps.

Recent research by Accenture surveyed 570 CEOs and revealed that real top-line productivity comes when data, technology and people are leveraged fully. Only 5% of global organisations are doing this effectively. These companies are placing parallel emphasis on getting value out of technology and creating talent within their business. They operate in the top quartile percentage of their respective industries. Those who only focus on the tech element are missing out. Looking only at data and tech will yield a 4% top-line productivity premium, while including the human element results in a premium of 11%. Technology cannot replace talent.

The future must work for everyone

Fragmentation is everywhere, and it is no different in the world of work. The world’s green skills, for example, are vastly concentrated in the wealthiest, most developed countries, leaving much work to be done in developing economies o prepare for the future. Similar rifts can be found along the lines of the digital revolution and flexible work. Even though the number of digitally-excluded people has dropped to below three billion globally for the first time, significant challenges remain. Even amongst those who do have access to digital technologies, there are generational and gender gaps. 

"The major challenge that we are facing as a society, in my opinion, is inequality," confessed José María Álvarez-Pallete López, CEO of Telefónica. "Because this wave of technology is going to destroy millions of jobs and is going to create millions of jobs. But if we don't handle that transition in the right manner, we'll be feeling we are dealing with social unrest." The fact is that, while we are all in the same storm, we are not all in the same boat. 

Diversity, inclusion and equity can no longer be a check box exercise in 2023. Not just because of the wider issue of social divide, but because it's the sensible way forward for companies seeking to tackle talent scarcity. “It’s not only social impact, it’s an economic impact at the same time. Because you can’t find any candidates. And talent scarcity means less growth for your company, let’s be clear," reminded Catoir.

The world of work is facing a huge up and reskilling emergency that all of us - companies and the public sector - need to address. Only by bringing effective, scalable and fast learning to jobs can we ensure that the green transition is a success, that digitisation brings its best and that people find lifelong employability. This is crucial for sustainable employment.