{"id":62991,"date":"2024-12-13T17:54:15","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T17:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explore.local\/2024\/12\/13\/catch-up-and-keep-up-skill-building-amid-ai-disruption\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T21:47:51","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T21:47:51","slug":"catch-up-and-keep-up-skill-building-amid-ai-disruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/degreed.com\/experience\/de\/blog\/catch-up-and-keep-up-skill-building-amid-ai-disruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Catch Up and Keep Up: Skill Building Amid AI Disruption"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AI will contribute $19.9 trillion to the global economy and drive 3.5% of global GDP<\/a> through 2030. It promises to revolutionize\u2014and disrupt\u2014the way people work in nearly every industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But just 20% of leaders at enterprise companies<\/a> say they have the talent they need to leverage generative AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, AI threatens to displace droves of employees. Globally, 300 million full-time jobs<\/a> could be exposed to automation, especially those in finance and banking, legal services, media and marketing, and IT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to fully leverage this developing technology\u2014while reducing AI disruption across your organization\u2014skill building will be critical. Savvy learning and business leaders are planning to not only upskill workers to use AI in their current roles\u2014but also to reskill AI-displaced workers into new roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Reskilling for New Roles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

AI is already displacing workers and will continue to do so. Tech giant Cisco laid off 5,500 employees in 2024<\/a> so it could invest more in AI. Meanwhile, IBM was expected to lay off or slow hiring for a whopping 26,000 roles<\/a>\u20148,000 of them in the next five years\u2014due to AI disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But displacement doesn\u2019t have to mean layoffs. Four in 10 surveyed leaders<\/a> expect no change in headcount due to AI. They\u2019ll need to reskill their employees to achieve that. By retaining most of a workforce, they\u2019ll hold onto all the expertise in their organizations\u2014like years on the job, company-specific knowledge, and rapport among workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Keeping Up with AI<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You can reskill displaced workers into other roles, but you\u2019ll need to start now to minimize layoffs. AI is advancing so quickly that workers need new skills now<\/em> just to keep up. The good news is that skill building doesn\u2019t have to take a lot of time. Just ask Verizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Verizon closed 70% of its physical stores\u2014while simultaneously needing far more telesales and remote customer service reps. Verizon retrained nearly 20,000 displaced workers<\/a>\u2014some of them completing just eight additional hours of training before starting their new roles. How was it possible? In-store workers already had plenty of customer service skills, brand knowledge, and product experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you see the threat of displacement as you forge into AI territory, look for adjacent roles for at-risk employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if a new AI chatbot displaces some of your customer service staff, you could quickly reskill people into sales positions, because they already have high emotional intelligence, product expertise, and communication skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staying Curious<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another key to the Verizon success was foresight. While leaders couldn\u2019t have predicted the pandemic, they had already been experimenting with remote work. The company had piloted remote customer service and telesales programs for some employees. It had invested in the right technology and knew how to train people into those roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when disruption came, it was just a matter of scaling those efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you can\u2019t predict exactly how AI will disrupt your business, you can start building some tactical advantages now. Make small investments to explore AI uses so you\u2019re ready to lean into them if it makes sense to later. Stay curious about AI even in its early stages, even if it\u2019s not as capable as you\u2019d like yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An impressive Ericsson success metric reveals the power of this path: Five years ago, the telecom giant began upskilling a relatively small group of 300 scientists to use artificial intelligence. Ericsson used Degreed to support its focus on 5G and AI technologies<\/strong>, emphasizing agility and ensuring employees had the necessary skills to meet evolving industry demands. Now, more than 30,000 of the company\u2019s 100,000-plus employees are considered very proficient in AI<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out Degreed Experiments<\/a> for some L&D-specific examples of ways you can start planning for\u2014and start using\u2014AI today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reskilling for AI Roles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While some workers will be displaced because of AI, others will need to leverage it to keep their companies competitive. Upskilling workers in their current roles is critical. You\u2019ll also need to be ready to move staff into new AI-support roles. For example, you might need someone to track the value creation of your AI initiatives, validate AI-created content, or conduct internal audits to ensure regulatory compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here, too, there\u2019s no time to waste. AI is developing so quickly that failing to keep up with the necessary skills could sandbag your investments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using AI to Teach AI<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Luckily, AI is proving to be just as useful in L&D as it is elsewhere. Consider making your first AI investments in learning, so you lay the groundwork for developing an entire workforce of AI-savvy smarties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n