The “The Future of Work” panel at the Sustainable Turning Forum, with the participation of Davide Fiedler, Manager, social impact at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD); Helen Andrade, Executive Manager of Diversity and Inclusion at Nestlé; Liliane Rocha, Founder and CEO of Gestão Kairós, and Tatiana Assali, Institutional Relations Manager at CEBDS, discussed the impacts of the technological revolution on the ways of producing and working, the prospects for the labor market, as well as more sustainable policies and practices in the relationship between companies and their human capital.
According to McKinsey, of about 60% of all occupations, one-third of jobs could be automated. Another important distinction is that these numbers vary greatly from country to country. As McKinsey explains, “In absolute terms, China has the largest number of workers who need to change occupations, up to 100 million if automation is adopted rapidly, or 12% of the 2030 workforce.” McKinsey estimates that between 60 million and 375 million jobs in the 2030 workforce will be in new occupations.
There is not just one future of work, there are several possibilities, pointed out Tatiana Assali (CEBDS). “People basically want security, which includes being financially stable; they want to be physically and mentally well; empowerment; and to act with purpose, to feel proud of the things you achieve in life and at work,” said Davide Fiedler (WBCSD).
Helen Andrade (Nestlé) highlighted that regardless of what the future of work will be like, it is necessary to prepare new generations for resilience in the face of adversity, in which there is a concern for health and not just for tools.
For Liliane Rocha (Kairos Management), the future of work must be for everyone. “We must have business leaders who are women, black people, people with disabilities, LGBTQUIA+, and people of different ages.”
The International Labour Organization (ILO) proposes a human-centred agenda for the future of work that strengthens the social contract by placing people and the work they do at the centre of economic and social policies and business practices. This agenda consists of three pillars of action that, together, would drive growth, equity and sustainability for present and future generations: 1. Increased investment in people’s capabilities; 2. Increased investment in institutions of work; and 3. Increased investment in decent and sustainable work.
