By 2030, in a midpoint adoption scenario, up to 30 percent of current hours worked could be automated, accelerated by generative AI. This is the outcome of the recent study “A new future of work: The race to deploy AI and raise skills in Europe and beyond” by McKinsey Global institute. While European and US productivity growth decreased seven and three percentage points, respectively, between 1950 and 2022, the study sees in automation technology a crucial factor to revive productivity growth.

On the other hand, the study states a growing demand in companies for technological, social and emotional skills while the demand for physical and manual and higher cognitive skills stabilizes. Surveyed managers in Europe and the United States expressed a need not just for advanced IT and data analytics but also for critical thinking, creativity, teaching and training— the latter are profoundly human skills at this stage. Key learning: “Business leaders and policy makers will face critical choices on how much to embrace technological change and investment while training and redeploying workers into the jobs of the future.”