The Coronavirus has drastically reshaped the economy and the labor force. Since its rapid spread around the globe, we have experienced titanic shifts in how we work, where we work, and the technologies we use to stay connected. Such massive change is escalating the importance of HR's role within organizations. Workers are turning to their managers and their HR leaders, in particular, for guidance on how to navigate their "new normal" -- research indicates that 73% of workers depend on their employer for support in preparing for the future of work. Just as CFOs have greatly increased their scope since the 2008 financial crisis, CHRO's now have that same opportunity to become central C-suite players.

Human Resource (HR) managers are supposed to work with people, look after the interests of the company's employees. It only makes sense that if automation becomes a big thing, they'll be the ones delivering the bad news to the employees. The recent trend has been anything but that and, personally, I hate how it's happening, their HR jobs are being taken over by chatbots and automation. One can almost imagine a robot breaking the bad news to HR managers, apologizing for taking their jobs. All jokes aside, HR managers are losing significance in the hiring process and performance evaluation, and automation is quickly taking over.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way things are done. Intelligent home assistants can play your favourite music or control your TV. Machines are being used to detect and decode medical conditions. Industries across the world are feeling the impact of rising technology. Along with the advantages, comes a fair share of scare--the risk of losing jobs to machines.

HRjobs: Asia's only regional recruitment website 100% dedicated to HR jobs. Just this weekend, automotive company Ford made headlines for investing US$1 billion during the next five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence company. Artifical intelligence, safe to say, is taking over all facets of marketing today – from streamlining process, injecting creativity, decoding the consumer behaviour and of course, decoding data. While just a few years ago, data scientists were deemed to be the coolest kids on the block, today it seems they too are fast being replaced. Today, there are still amongst us, brands which have expended great lengths to gather data, who do not yet know what the next step is.

HRjobs: Asia's only regional recruitment website 100% dedicated to HR jobs. Two thirds of HR executives in Asia expect they will soon be tasked with managing both man and machine as the use of artifical intelligence in business rises. Additionally, 70.8% believes the advancements in AI and robotics will lead to substantial job losses in Asia over the next five years. Those are some of the findings from the recent MIT Technology Review, which surveyed over 60 Asia-based senior executives and two dozen senior HR professionals to gather perspective on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics on Asia's business landscape. According to the report, the rise of AI will create a seismic shift in the processes that senior managers use to manage talent, growth, and productivity across nearly every industry sector.