Despite growing debate around the impact of the technology to global workforces, the Big Four giant claims that many verticals – including hospitality, retail, marketing and law – are currently not set to be hit by a swathe of job losses.
The firm’s report comes on the same day its US business announced a 5% cut to its head count. Though it says the driver behind this is a slowdown in demand for services, not an internal pivot to AI investment.
Across the wider global workforce there are, according to KPMG, an estimated 10% of jobs that will face significant disruption.
These will include jobs such as authors, writers and translators.
While KPMG predicts that generative AI will impact 2.5% of tasks performed across the UK, for this 10% of jobs, they will see 5% of tasks automated.
This is, of course, not all doom and gloom. Automation of tasks does not equate to job losses, instead it will transform jobs for the better and enable employees to lean into their uniquely ‘human’ skills.
KPMG UK’s head of connected technology Paul Henninger shared: “Used in a responsible way, it will accelerate our work, saving people and businesses time and money by removing repetitive tasks and bringing data and insights seamlessly into how we make decisions.
“While there are concerns about the impact of generative AI on jobs, it will likely be used as an enabler of our strategies and processes. Roles will change to work with the technology.”
In fact, KMPG’s report predicts that generative AI will be a real boom for the UK’s productivity – it could add up 1.2% to UK productivity, or £31 billion to gross domestic output.
How to facilitate the AI transition
For organizations to reap these productivity benefits “changes to working practices, skills, and significant levels of digital investments are required to unlock the productivity benefits,” state Yael Selfin, chief economist for KPMG UK.
HR needs to be aware that this transformation will take time. And that there is a big piece of work to do with those whose jobs will be significantly disrupted.
Selfin added: “While we do not anticipate many job losses as a result, changes to work practices of some occupations could still lead to short-term skill mismatches, as the labor market adjusts to the new technology.
“Additional support will be needed to facilitate the transition of affected workers to new occupations.”
Henninger noted that HR’s success here comes if “we keep people at the center of our thinking about” generative AI at work.
This is also the view of Mercer’s global transformation leader Ravin Jesuthasan.
In an exclusive interview with UNLEASH, he shares HR needs to take the time to involve those people who will be most affected by generative AI into decision-making.
“You’ve got to get them to understand generative AI”, but you also have to show them why they should buy in to the use of this technology at work.
It is necessary to reassure individuals that generative AI won’t actually take their job – instead it’ll make their jobs more meaningful, and they will be able to upskill and reskill for their own benefit (as well as their employer’s).
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