According to new report by Wiley, “The Future is Now: 5 Workplace Challenges That Will Shape 2025,” being able to align the workforce with future business needs is the number one challenge that workers anticipate in 2025, with upskilling employees coming in at a close second. Results of a survey conducted by Wiley, one of the world’s largest publishers, suggest workers’ top anticipated challenges for the year ahead are closely related to artificial intelligence (AI) and its rapid evolution and growing impact on the workplace.
Forty percent of workers in another recent Wiley survey said they are struggling to understand how to integrate AI into their work, and 75% said they lack confidence in how to utilize AI. Businesses are trying to adjust to factors such as technological change, work model evolutions and new business priorities brought on by AI, and employees must often learn new skills in order to keep up and compete.
“Given how many workers are already struggling to understand and utilize AI, it’s no wonder they are concerned about adjusting to change in the future, particularly with the prospect of another year of massive transformation at work ahead,” said Dr. Mark Scullard, senior director of product innovation at Wiley. “Companies that encourage agility, embrace digital tools and technologies, and offer access to quality learning opportunities are likely to help ease those concerns.”
To help with aligning the workforce with future business needs, the report recommends organizations focus on promoting a growth mindset, including encouraging agility, offering resources (such as learning/training/upskilling) to help, and creating a two-way communication channel to process challenges as they come up. Clearly communicating expectations is very important when it comes to fostering resilience, building new skills, and embracing digital tools and technologies.
Other Concerns
Three other challenges were each named as top concerns for the year ahead by a slightly smaller number of respondents: attracting and retaining top talent (32%), economic uncertainty (30%), and employee engagement (30%).
The report suggests companies can effectively address such concerns by cultivating a positive, supportive organizational culture, including communicating effectively, encouraging a healthy work/life balance, and providing opportunities for career and skills growth.
Wiley offers professional learning solutions including Everything DiSC, The Leadership Challenge, The Five Behaviors, and PXT Select designed to help companies, managers, and individual employees assess and improve workplace skills, perform better, and become more successful.
Methodology
The data in this report are based on surveys completed by 2,000 individuals in North America, from individual contributors to executive leaders, on the emerging priorities of organizations around the country.
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