随着人工智能的迅猛发展,越来越多的危言耸听者预测它会淘汰无数的工作岗位。不可否认,企业最近通过人工智能简化运营,为劳动力市场描绘了一幅严峻的图景。仅在2022年,大型科技公司就裁员超过15万人,高盛集团预测,人工智能最终将导致3亿个工作岗位淘汰或降级。然而,尽管关于人工智能导致专业技能贬值的危险的描述精细入微且骇人听闻,但人们却很少关注这种剧变将带来的同等重要的职业机会。
对国际劳动力数据的分析表明,需要抽象思维和人际交往能力的工作最不可能受到人工智能的威胁。在人工智能削弱现有产品的情况下,企业要保持竞争力,未来创新型员工就将成为开发新产品、新服务,并创建新收入来源的关键。同样重要的是,领导者要有同理心,能够培养特定职场文化,让这些创新型员工脱颖而出。
显而易见的是,这些软技能包含了传统上被定性为“女性化”的特质。除了笨手笨脚这一刻板印象之外,劳动力市场统计数据和学术研究都充分证明了女性与特定职业特征之间的联系。事实上,女孩从小就比男孩更喜欢脑力劳动和与人打交道较多的工作。这一趋势一直延续到职场,美国和英国的就业数据显示,女性选择面向客户的工作的可能性分别比男性高出31%和57%。
因此,人工智能将为这些工作带来的优势有望在更多方面撼动劳动力市场。不仅在工作类型和数量上,劳动力市场将发生巨大变化,而且我们还将看到更多女性担任高级领导职务。传统上与女性相关的技能对于确保人类与人工智能协同合作取得成功越来越重要,这一巨大变化为企业提供了强有力的激励,促使它们致力于提高女性比例,从而实现互利共赢。
与任何颠覆性技术的引入一样,人工智能革命将带来竞争激烈、赢家通吃的经济环境,并将重奖"超级明星"企业。要想在其中分一杯羹,企业必须培养让多元化的员工队伍相互竞争从而实现创新的文化。此前,亚马逊(Amazon)等公司将这种动态解释为高度个人主义和锐气旺盛。然而,通过这种有毒战略取得的任何成功都是有代价的:员工队伍文化单一、创新有限和令人瞠目的员工流失率。2020 年,亚马逊的高级领导团队中仅有3名女性,而男性则有19名。去年有消息称,亚马逊的年度员工流失率高达150%。在计算错失通过新视角颠覆市场的机会所造成的损失之前,仅这一惊人的流失率每年就会给股东造成80亿美元的损失。
为了实现更可持续增长,创新必须建立在合作共赢的愿景之上,而不是残酷的竞争或部落主义。必须由富有同理心的领导者来推动这种包容性的动态向前发展,他们要鼓励企业内多元化员工——也可能是持不同意见的员工——进行公开对话,积极消除确认偏误,助力实现灵活决策。颠覆性技术要求企业采取同样激进的态度,因此,试图通过寻求有偏见的证据来证明维持现状是合理的做法,有着致命的诱惑力。
倡导创新型和支持型文化的理由比以往任何时候都更有说服力。这种包容性的创新模式将使女性受益:女性通常会因为表现出与男性领导者同样的自信而受到惩罚,而男性领导者的这种自信被称赞为“勇气可嘉”和“标新立异”。随着企业通过加薪和升职来奖励和激励具有同理心的领导者,女性终于可以因其传统上被视为弱点的特质(晋升的障碍)而获得奖励。
新的自动化工作场所将是为女性赋能并给予奖励的场所,这是一项日益紧迫的企业绩效战略。早在2019年,麦肯锡(McKinsey)的分析就发现,高管团队性别多样性排名前25%的公司的盈利能力高于平均水平的可能性比排名后25%的公司高25%。随着人工智能改变企业的运营方式,这种差距只会变得更加明显。
我们必须重新认识人工智能对劳动力市场的重构,而不是将其视为大规模裁员的末日情景,并以此为契机,最终兑现企业的多元化承诺,进而实现盈利。对于成功的企业来说,现在比以往任何时候都更需要女性主义。(财富中文网)
格蕾丝·洛丹(Grace Lordan)博士是伦敦经济学院(London School of Economics)行为科学副教授,也是“包容性倡议”( The Inclusion Initiative)的创始董事。
Fortune.com上发表的评论文章中表达的观点,仅代表作者本人的观点,不代表《财富》杂志的观点和立场。
译者:中慧言-王芳
随着人工智能的迅猛发展,越来越多的危言耸听者预测它会淘汰无数的工作岗位。不可否认,企业最近通过人工智能简化运营,为劳动力市场描绘了一幅严峻的图景。仅在2022年,大型科技公司就裁员超过15万人,高盛集团预测,人工智能最终将导致3亿个工作岗位淘汰或降级。然而,尽管关于人工智能导致专业技能贬值的危险的描述精细入微且骇人听闻,但人们却很少关注这种剧变将带来的同等重要的职业机会。
对国际劳动力数据的分析表明,需要抽象思维和人际交往能力的工作最不可能受到人工智能的威胁。在人工智能削弱现有产品的情况下,企业要保持竞争力,未来创新型员工就将成为开发新产品、新服务,并创建新收入来源的关键。同样重要的是,领导者要有同理心,能够培养特定职场文化,让这些创新型员工脱颖而出。
显而易见的是,这些软技能包含了传统上被定性为“女性化”的特质。除了笨手笨脚这一刻板印象之外,劳动力市场统计数据和学术研究都充分证明了女性与特定职业特征之间的联系。事实上,女孩从小就比男孩更喜欢脑力劳动和与人打交道较多的工作。这一趋势一直延续到职场,美国和英国的就业数据显示,女性选择面向客户的工作的可能性分别比男性高出31%和57%。
因此,人工智能将为这些工作带来的优势有望在更多方面撼动劳动力市场。不仅在工作类型和数量上,劳动力市场将发生巨大变化,而且我们还将看到更多女性担任高级领导职务。传统上与女性相关的技能对于确保人类与人工智能协同合作取得成功越来越重要,这一巨大变化为企业提供了强有力的激励,促使它们致力于提高女性比例,从而实现互利共赢。
与任何颠覆性技术的引入一样,人工智能革命将带来竞争激烈、赢家通吃的经济环境,并将重奖"超级明星"企业。要想在其中分一杯羹,企业必须培养让多元化的员工队伍相互竞争从而实现创新的文化。此前,亚马逊(Amazon)等公司将这种动态解释为高度个人主义和锐气旺盛。然而,通过这种有毒战略取得的任何成功都是有代价的:员工队伍文化单一、创新有限和令人瞠目的员工流失率。2020 年,亚马逊的高级领导团队中仅有3名女性,而男性则有19名。去年有消息称,亚马逊的年度员工流失率高达150%。在计算错失通过新视角颠覆市场的机会所造成的损失之前,仅这一惊人的流失率每年就会给股东造成80亿美元的损失。
为了实现更可持续增长,创新必须建立在合作共赢的愿景之上,而不是残酷的竞争或部落主义。必须由富有同理心的领导者来推动这种包容性的动态向前发展,他们要鼓励企业内多元化员工——也可能是持不同意见的员工——进行公开对话,积极消除确认偏误,助力实现灵活决策。颠覆性技术要求企业采取同样激进的态度,因此,试图通过寻求有偏见的证据来证明维持现状是合理的做法,有着致命的诱惑力。
倡导创新型和支持型文化的理由比以往任何时候都更有说服力。这种包容性的创新模式将使女性受益:女性通常会因为表现出与男性领导者同样的自信而受到惩罚,而男性领导者的这种自信被称赞为“勇气可嘉”和“标新立异”。随着企业通过加薪和升职来奖励和激励具有同理心的领导者,女性终于可以因其传统上被视为弱点的特质(晋升的障碍)而获得奖励。
新的自动化工作场所将是为女性赋能并给予奖励的场所,这是一项日益紧迫的企业绩效战略。早在2019年,麦肯锡(McKinsey)的分析就发现,高管团队性别多样性排名前25%的公司的盈利能力高于平均水平的可能性比排名后25%的公司高25%。随着人工智能改变企业的运营方式,这种差距只会变得更加明显。
我们必须重新认识人工智能对劳动力市场的重构,而不是将其视为大规模裁员的末日情景,并以此为契机,最终兑现企业的多元化承诺,进而实现盈利。对于成功的企业来说,现在比以往任何时候都更需要女性主义。(财富中文网)
格蕾丝·洛丹(Grace Lordan)博士是伦敦经济学院(London School of Economics)行为科学副教授,也是“包容性倡议”( The Inclusion Initiative)的创始董事。
Fortune.com上发表的评论文章中表达的观点,仅代表作者本人的观点,不代表《财富》杂志的观点和立场。
译者:中慧言-王芳
As the relentless advance of A.I. continues to gain momentum, so too does the growing chorus of alarmist voices predicting its destruction of countless jobs. Undeniably, companies’ recent moves to streamline their operations through artificial intelligence paint a stark picture for the labor market. Big Tech layoffs claimed more than 150,000 jobs throughout 2022 alone, with Goldman Sachs predicting that 300 million jobs will ultimately be lost or degraded by artificial intelligence. Yet whilst the perils of A.I.’s devaluation of professional skills have been charted in lurid detail, little attention has been paid to the equally significant professional opportunities that this upheaval will generate.
Analysis of international workforce data indicates that the jobs that require abstract thinking and interpersonal skills are the least likely to be threatened by the introduction of A.I. For firms to remain competitive as A.I. undercuts their existing offerings, innovative employees will become crucial to developing new products, services, and income streams. Equally important will be empathetic leaders who are capable of cultivating a workplace culture that empowers these innovators to excel.
Strikingly, these soft skills entail attributes that have traditionally been characterized as “feminine.” Beyond clumsy stereotyping, this association of women with specific professional traits is well documented in both labor market statistics and academic research. In fact, from a young age, girls have been found to demonstrate a greater preference for jobs with higher brain and people content than boys. This trend continues into the workplace, as employment data from across the U.S. and U.K. reveals that women are 31% and 57% more likely to choose jobs that are people-oriented than their male counterparts.
The advantage that A.I. will afford these jobs therefore promises to shake up the labor market in more ways than one. Not only will the workforce look dramatically different in terms of the types and number of jobs available, but we should also see an increased representation of women in senior leadership positions as a result. With skills traditionally associated with women becoming increasingly important to ensure success alongside A.I., this sea change provides a compelling incentive for firms to commit to driving mutually beneficial advances in gender representation in the workplace.
As with the introduction of any disruptive technology, the A.I. revolution will usher in a highly competitive, winner-takes-all economy that heavily rewards “superstar” players. To secure a slice of this success, firms must develop a culture in which diverse employees are empowered to challenge one another and thus drive innovation. Previously, companies such as Amazon have interpreted this dynamic as one that is highly individualistic and combative. However, any success achieved through such a toxic strategy has come at a cost: a monocultural workforce, limited innovation, and eyewatering turnover rates. In 2020, Amazon’s senior leadership team had just three women compared to 19 men, and last year it was revealed that Amazon has an annual employee turnover rate of 150%. Before you even calculate the cost of missed opportunities to disrupt markets through fresh perspectives, this staggering churn alone was costing shareholders $8 billion annually.
To achieve more sustainable growth, innovation must be built on a collaborative vision of success rather than cutthroat competition or tribalism. This inclusive dynamic must be driven by empathetic leaders who encourage open dialogue between diverse–and potentially dissenting–voices within the organization, actively combat confirmation bias, and promote more agile decision-making. As disruptive technology demands an equally radical attitude from businesses, the temptation to justify clinging to the status quo by seeking biased evidence can be fatal.
The case for championing an innovative and supportive culture is more compelling than ever. This inclusive innovation model stands to benefit women, who are typically penalized for exhibiting the same assertiveness that is praised as evidence of “grit” and “innovation” in male leaders. As firms reward and incentivize empathetic leaders with increased salaries and promotions, women will at last be rewarded for the traits that were traditionally perceived as a weakness–and thus a barrier to progression–in professional environments.
The new, automated workplace will be one that empowers and rewards women’s talents as an increasingly urgent business performance strategy. Already in 2019, analysis by McKinsey found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile. As A.I. transforms how businesses operate, this disparity will only become more glaring.
Rather than apocalyptic visions of mass redundancy, A.I.’s restructuring of the labor market must be reimagined as an opportunity to finally deliver on corporate diversity pledges that in turn benefit the bottom line. Now more than ever, for successful businesses, the future really is feminist.
Grace Lordan, P.h.D., is an associate professor of behavioral science and the founding director of The Inclusion Initiative at the London School of Economics.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.