How organisations are addressing the impact of AI on white-collar jobs

Artificial intelligence has become an integral part of our professional lives. Alongside admiration for its capabilities, there are also voices of concern that if AI takes over some of our tasks, it will change the nature of our work and thus eliminate certain positions. In general, I believe that technology is our ally, and that human intentions control the driving force and direction of its influence. So it is not the tool itself that is key, but its proper use. This, after all, inspires optimism and allows us to see opportunities that, if wise organisations make good use of, will give them an advantage.

One of the basic areas of AI application is automation. It concerns repetitive tasks such as reporting, searching databases, and creating summaries. However, we are increasingly entrusting it with tasks that require deeper analysis, creativity, and even decision-making. What does this change for human work? It forces us to pay closer attention to the effects of AI tools, gives greater importance to analytical skills, and ultimately necessitates the acquisition of new digital competencies.

Are our workplaces ready for the AI era?
Let’s look at data on the impact of AI on white-collar employment in Europe. The data was collected by the University of Georgia and published in Human Resource Development Review, and involved an analysis of the strategies of 50 countries, including European ones. [1]

It indicates that Europe is one of the regions that is adapting most quickly and actively to the challenges of AI. As many as 11 out of 13 countries best prepared in terms of adapting the education sector and the labour market are European ones, including Poland. European strategies focus, among other things, on:

• Incorporating AI training into education at various levels
• Retraining and upgrading the skills of white-collar workers
• Creating new jobs requiring advanced digital skills

Of course, new positions strictly related to artificial intelligence are emerging, such as artificial intelligence ethics specialists and prompt engineers. According to research, up to 65% of current primary-school pupils will in the future perform jobs that do not currently exist. For existing positions, the solution to the need for changing competency profiles is reskilling and upskilling. Employees remain in the organisation, acquire new competencies that support their daily tasks, and allow the organisation to keep up with technology and market developments. This requires certain operations, such as redefining business models and processes, so that people and tools complement each other efficiently.

How to wisely introduce AI competencies into an organisation?
The first step should be to prepare a strategy in correlation with the company’s long-term plans. It is important to define the goal of the changes, the methods, and how they will affect the organisation, organisational culture, and employees.

This is followed by the extremely important stage of communicating the changes to employees. Resistance to change is a very common issue, often marginalised, which can sometimes block the introduction of new rules or cause them to be implemented ineffectively. People need to understand ‘why are we doing this?’ and ‘how will it affect us as individual employees?’ It’s good to have change ambassadors in various professional groups who will reinforce the message at the peer-to-peer level, show the meaning of the changes by example, and set the pace for them.

Knowledge transfer is effective when activities are multi-track and quality-based. These can include:

• Internal training – carefully prepared workshops and courses that allow employees to understand how AI works and test it in practice
• Partnerships with universities – companies join forces with universities and boot camps to provide the latest technological knowledge
• Digital platforms – tools such as Coursera, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning enable mass upskilling in a flexible way
• Mentoring programmes – experienced professionals help less advanced colleagues develop skills related to new technologies

Not every organisation is able to use all of them due to the nature of its activities, size, and financial capabilities. In regulated industries, such as medicine or finance, strict ethical and legal rules can be a challenge. AI regulations still do not cover all issues, and the multitude of interpretations creates uncertainty and room for errors in implementation. It’s worth starting with basic solutions and tools that will allow changes to take root in the organisational culture.

Conclusion
The pace of AI technology evolution is so rapid that training in this area cannot be a one-time event. Skill development should be a constant and continuous process that allows for flexible adaptation to changing market requirements. To help with this, organisations should strive to build a culture of learning and adaptation.

From the perspective of employees, this is of great value to them, because acquiring new skills and keeping up to date with what is happening in the world of technology and business gives them a greater sense of security and stability. Let’s not forget that as humans, we still have one key advantage: soft skills such as creativity, empathy, collaboration, and communication, which cannot be replaced by artificial intelligence.

The labour market is transforming into a hybrid environment where humans and AI work together, where investment in technology should go hand in hand with investment in people. This is how more innovative and resilient organisations are created. And we’re still in the game.

[1] Global Perspectives on AI Competence Development: Analyzing National AI Strategies in Education and Workforce Policies