Gender gap not helped by the digital age, and skill sets must change – WEF report

How jobs and employment opportunities in the future may change with the emergence of disruptive technologies in the digital age has been described in the Future of Jobs Report 2016 from the World Economic Forum (WEF). Data was collected from 371 large companies producing a total of 1,346 respondents. Henk Volberda, Professor of Strategic Management & Business Policy at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and Scientific Director at Inscope, partner-institute of WEF, analysed the results for the Netherlands. The WEF report also examines in which way emerging new technologies – called the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ – may affect employment disparity between men and women.

According to the report (in Dutch), disruptive technologies – particularly Big Data and the Internet of Things – will have a strong impact on business and will drive changes in the labour market of the future. More jobs will be lost than are created as a result of these changes worldwide- 2 million jobs will be gained but 7.1 million will be lost. Businesses will offer more short-term jobs and fewer permanent contracts. There will be more people employed in architecture, engineering, IT and mathematics roles, and fewer in office and administrative roles.

Read the full article here.