Employee training is an issue of critical importance for enterprises. Challenged to find skilled employees, sapped by high turnover rates, mired in massive transformations, the need to upskill and cross-train employees is paramount -- and almost too much for traditional approaches to training to handle. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are increasingly being leaned on to aid in companies' upskilling strategies, ascertaining skill sets, recommending learning paths, providing on-the-job training -- even helping determine what to pay for acquired skills. With more than 345,000 employees and an ever-present need to stay ahead of the technology curve, IBM is one such company putting AI to work in keeping its workforce sharp. "The half-life of skills is now five years," says Anshul Sheopuri, chief technology officer for data and AI at IBM HR.

Dramatic employee turnover is being predicted in the post-pandemic era, at the same time that AI is being incorporated into more learning and development solutions, giving employers an opportunity to establish a competitive differentiation. An employee turnover "tsunami" is predicted by results from a survey of 2,000 adults in February conducted by The Work Institute, a research and consulting firm in Franklin, Tenn., according to an account from SHRM, the Society of Human Resource Management. The survey found that half of employees in North America plan to look for a new job in 2021. "We see absolutely pent-up turnover demand in the U.S. workforce," stated Danny Nelms, president of The Work Institute, which is focused on employee engagement and retention. Prior to the pandemic, the firm would see about 3.5 million people leaving their jobs monthly.

Enterprises now acknowledge the value of having a highly capable workforce. The ever-changing business landscape demands workers to continually upskill and reskill, giving rise to employee training utilization. Most organizations are now reinforcing their human resources and training and development departments to help them address the need. Large US companies on the average spent $17.7 million on such efforts in 2019. Managing employee training, however, has its own set of challenges.

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As we begin 2020 with new excitement and vigor, it's also the time to plan ahead and look at what the year has in store for us for corporate Learning and Development (L&D). With workplace learning trends embracing technology on a larger scale, one thing we can say for certain is that emerging technologies are transforming the world of work, and businesses need to rethink their approach toward L&D and employee training. One of the key shifts observed in 2019 and going into 2020 is learning in-the-flow of work, which only makes more and more sense as we live our connected lives in this connected world. Meanwhile, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping how organizations do business, engage with clients and customers, and manage their operations. As a result, an increasing number of organizations are now depending on emerging technologies to gain the desired competitive advantage.

CHIBA – Corporate Japan's growing need to rely on new technologies to cope with a shrinking workforce was on show at the recently held CEATEC technology exhibition in the city of Chiba, with service industry companies turning out in greater numbers this year. As more and more skilled workers reach retirement across various industries in rapidly graying Japan, businesses are turning to new technologies to hand down field experience and knowledge to younger workers. East Nippon Expressway Co., operator of expressways and toll roads in Japan, is one of the companies adopting "mixed reality" technology as it seeks to boost training of inspection and maintenance personnel. "We are increasingly required by the government to conduct checks on roads but our skilled workers are aging and cannot work at their fullest anymore. So we needed to rely on high tech to share and pass on their know-how to the younger employees," said Masaki Ishiguro, official in charge of maintenance at the firm, also known as Nexco East.

Today, there's a common notion that artificial intelligence (AI) is going to put us all out of jobs. But recently, I read an article (subscription required) where AI expert Robert Atkinson remarked that worries around AI and job loss are overblown. He said, "It's time to take a deep breath and stop panicking about artificial intelligence and what it portends for jobs. No, AI won't destroy more jobs than it creates. No, the pace of technological change is not accelerating. And no, we certainly don't need to tax AI to slow it down."

In 1888, the London-based accounting firm that became PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) faced a major technological upheaval thanks to the Burroughs adding machine. The first-ever mechanized calculator, an invention by William Seward Burroughs, cut the time to perform accounting tasks in half, and PwC's hundreds of workers had to quickly master the new system, or get left in the dust. Today, PwC isn't simply an accounting firm--now it's a global consultancy with 250,930 employees in 158 countries, raking in $43.1 billion in revenue in 2018--but once again it, along with thousands of other companies, faces a seismic technological shakeup with the advent of AI and other advanced technologies. It's rising to meet the challenge by preparing its workers to use digital technologies at all levels, from entry-level staff to C-suite executives. And it's not alone in its reskilling push--AT&T, IBM, Walmart and other forward-leaning companies also have major retraining programs underway.

As AI continues to advance, what future jobs are just over the horizon? Despite fears of automation taking away jobs, the need for skilled humans to operate, utilise and advance technologies will remain unequivocally necessary. While there are plenty of people who fear robots taking over their jobs, there are also many important positives to automation. This starts with having robots in the workplace to treat like robots, and revaluing human employees as actual humans with a need for purpose and work-life balance. Automation, and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) all lead to the idea that human workers will be valued for their uniquely human skills, such as creativity and innovative thinking.

Freebies have never lost luster and attraction. These days it is all about the value you can get for your money. For the startup world that actually means a lot. Imagine the most fragile time of your life, as an entrepreneur it means everything that matters to you, is the fact that your life depends upon the successful launch of your company. You are a builder, a dreamer and a doer, the only thing that you lack at this stage is resources.