Productivity Gains From Augmenting The Labour Force
The Pandemic showed people that while technology can augment and supplement work, it does not replace what is needed from humans, hence the increasing growth of the augmented workforce. An augmented workforce is a blend of human employees and technology working on tasks together. In the past year alone, the world has had the opportunity to see the resilience and adaptability of the workforce as many employees we’re redeployed across different areas of the business to address shortages and surges caused by the global Pandemic. This should give businesses the push to evolve and integrate human and technology teams.
A recent article by Deloitte reported that 41% of companies have fully implemented or have made significant progress in adopting cognitive and AI technologies within their workforce. It is now becoming a necessity and not a nice to have. The need for forward planning became ever apparent in recent times and technology and human integration is needed now more than ever.
People Quality
Although there is a lot of uncertainty about business models, disrupters, new technology, the next new technology, one thing is clear, success will be driven by the quality of your people. Businesses need candidates that can easily adapt to sudden changes and who are willing to learn new skills when necessary.
People’s perception of an augmented workforce can often be negative, and some fear technology may eventually replace their role. However, this is not the case. Retraining instead of replacing will be important in order to maintain the current business knowledge and apply it to new situations. Businesses should now be planning for the next changes in the recruitment market. They should be well informed of technology developments and what impact they will have. They will also need to be aware of the type of resources they will need in order to overcome these changes and stay ahead of their competition.
Overcoming Skills Shortages
It is impossible to predict the exact skills that will be needed but flexibility is key. In the past couple of years there has been a change happening in the recruitment market where candidates have the upper hand due to skills shortages in certain areas. The Pandemic opened a world of opportunities and broke down barriers such as geographical location, visas etc. that hiring managers and recruiters often faced when filling roles. This is proof that when technology and people are given the correct tools to collaborate and work together, the business can achieve extremely positive results.
Contractors with the right skills will play an important role in augmenting the workforce, allowing companies to transform and leverage the latest technology, trend or customer demand. They will be in high demand as we are already seeing and access to a timely supply will be critical. The skills likely to be in the most demand will be the ones required to get people back to work, either in an office or working from home.
We saw a large increase in Desktop Device as a Service Projects (DAAS) projects last year, where new laptops and citrix devices were rolled out to staff at home with the latest cloud-based applications. This will continue at pace throughout 2021 where Software developers, Project Managers and Cloud / Security specialists will be needed initially to design and build the backend, with delivery and support teams being required for the latter stages. We are also seeing a large increase in Ecommerce projects where companies are increasing and fine tuning their ability to sell online.
Again, software developers will be in high demand here, ranging from website designers, front and back-end developers, testers and marketing to mention a few. Most companies will not have these skills in-house and will need to hire in as and when needed. Some may choose to buy a solution which will come with all the resources built in. This will most certainly have a higher price tag and be a good fit for many with deep pockets. Others may have some of the expertise needed and just need to fill some skills gaps for a short period of time in order to build their own solution.
Maximising Productivity
An organisation that is designed and organised to maximise what humans are capable of thinking, creating, and doing in a world of machines will be highly successful and future ready. By working with a trusted IT Recruitment partner such as Ergo, your organisation will have the agility needed to succeed and stay competitive. Contact Maurice White for more information or view our IT Reosurcing services here.
