New research from the McKinsey Global Institute suggests that more than half of US work hours today could be automated using existing technologies. What does this shift mean for the human skills organizations need to develop—and for the future of work?
During a McKinsey Live event, Senior Partner Alexis Krivkovich and McKinsey Global Institute Partner Anu Madgavkar discussed the impact of AI on how work gets done, the evolution of human roles, and the considerable economic value at stake.
- Work in the future will be a partnership between people, agents, and robots—all powered by AI. Today’s technologies could theoretically automate more than half of current US work hours. This reflects how profoundly work may change, but it is not a forecast of job losses. Adoption will take time. As it unfolds, some roles will shrink, others grow or shift, while new ones emerge—with work increasingly centered on collaboration between humans and intelligent machines.
- Most human skills will endure, though they will be applied differently. More than 70 percent of the skills sought by employers today are used in both automatable and non-automatable work. This overlap means most skills remain relevant, but how and where they are used will evolve.
- There are specific skills that will be most and least exposed to automation in the next five years. Digital and information-processing skills could be most affected; those related to assisting and caring are likely to change the least.
- Demand for AI fluency—the ability to use and manage AI tools—has grown sevenfold in two years, faster than for any other skill in US job postings. The surge is visible across industries and likely marks the beginning of much bigger changes ahead.
- By 2030, about $2.9 trillion of economic value could be unlocked in the United States—if organizations prepare their people and redesign workflows, rather than individual tasks, around people, agents, and robots working together.
