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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Well Structured
  • Overview

Recommendation

COVID-19 may have accelerated the rise of digital technologies, but even after the pandemic resolves, increased digitization will continue, bringing profound changes to the world of work. According to experts at the Boston Consulting Group and analytics firm Faethm, policy makers and business leaders cannot simply think of digitization’s effects in terms of jobs lost or gained; deeper insights are required to prepare for what’s to come. To that end, this report examines how the adoption of new technologies will create both significant labor shortfalls and surpluses by 2030, and suggests how leaders in the public and private sectors can help build a workforce to meet these challenges. 

Summary

Increased automation will create both labor deficits and surpluses in Germany, Austria and the United States by 2030.

In the United States, labor deficits will likely occur in STEM-related occupations: For computer and mathematics positions, deficits could reach 6.1 million by 2030; architecture and engineering positions could see deficits reaching 1.3 million by that date. America will also struggle to find enough qualified candidates to fill key positions in health care, social services and teaching. At the same time, increased automation will likely create surpluses of up to 3 million workers in areas such as office and administrative support. 

Germany and Australia will see similar deficits and surpluses – with Germany experiencing a deficit of 1.1 million and Australia a deficit of 333,000 workers for STEM-related positions. Additionally, Germany will find itself struggling to find enough workers for education and health-related jobs, and Australia will see deficits in the fields of business management...

About the Authors

Rainer Strack, Miguel Carrasco and Philipp Kolo are partners at the Boston Consulting Group – a leading management consulting firm. Nicholas Nouri and Richard George are data scientists, and Michael Priddis is CEO of Faethm – a unique SaaS analytics platform.