Future of Work

LDE Session 3

Ajay Karan
Starting position Starting position
Ajay is a senior manager in a call center. Newly installed Karan has completed his PhD in
technologies will automate 15–20% of his activities within Psychology and is associated with a
a year. His role is being redefined to include new activities learning and development firm.
—eg, using new AI-generated reports and working with Working with clients he realized that
colleagues from other functions. with companies embracing spatial
computing and avatars going to work,
Discovery within the accelerator we will be working with robots and
Nudged by the accelerator, Ajay enrolls in upskilling people in ways that we never before
imagined.
programs in call-center analytics, communication, and
agile ways of working. Discovery within the accelerator
Training Karan realized that that there is a
strong need for organizations to help
Ajay completes the upskilling programs, applying what he
employees navigate through the
learns in his work projects. After he struggles with the digitally altered world by being more
analytics program, the accelerator pairs him with a empathetic.
colleague mentor who recently completed the analytics
course with distinction. Training

New activities Karan starts interacting with executives

from different organizations and
Ajay continues to grow, taking on new challenges with
completes a course in Human-centered
confidence. His exposure to other functions prompts him
designs.
to explore potential redeployment to the growing digital
product-development group via the accelerator. New activities
Karan has now taken up the role of a
Chief Empathy Officer with a big firm.
He assists the CEO in company culture
evaluation, cultivation and messaging.
He’s the listening ear for employees on
issues of culture (company or social)
and instigates empathy training
programs. using creative technology
Sonya
Starting position
Sonya has a nonmanagerial role in marketing.
More than 50% of the activities in her role
will be automated within a year; the role will be entirely
phased out within 3 years.

Discovery within the accelerator

Sonya learns that skills in data visualization and design are
a growing need for the company; she is interested in that
field.

Training
She begins to work with a team on projects that involve
data visualization and design. While getting hands-on
experience, she takes company-sponsored online training
courses to develop her skills in this new area.

New activities
After 9 months of project work and training, Sonya is
accepted for a managerial role in data design for
marketing—an exciting career path in a growing field at
the company.

Adapted from McKinsey ‘Getting practical about the future of work’ Jan 2020