Dive brief:
- More than 4 out of 10 companies plans to replace roles with AIespecially in operations and back office (58%) and at the entry level (37%), according to an October 28 report from global consultancy Korn Ferry.
- However, a firm survey of more than 1,670 global external talent leaders, as well as 230 Korn Ferry experts, indicated that while reducing entry-level hires may increase savings by 2026 and 2027, drying up this pipeline of future leaders could open the door to a long-term leadership crisis, the report warns.
- “As AI expands into the workforce, becoming a colleague, not just a tool, leaders should carefully weigh the balance between innovation and developing the next generation of leaders,” Jeanne MacDonald, managing director of recruitment process outsourcing at Korn Ferry, said in a press release.
Diving knowledge:
The race to automate is creating a leadership challenge for talent acquisition professionals, Korn Ferry report highlights. While the CEOs trust more and more On recruiters to close the skills gap and create a workforce for the future, according to a recent LinkedIn report, AI is eliminating entry-level roles and closing a key path to hiring and developing leaders, the company explained.
Only 11% of TA leaders said their executives are well prepared to lead the transition to AI. To meet the challenge and ensure that AI implementation is more aligned with the ambitions of the C-suite, a priority for TA professionals can be to help the C-suite communicate its vision among the workforce, Korn Ferry said.
According to Korn Ferry’s findings, TA leaders also need to ensure their teams are effectively leveraging the use of AI, although there may be work to be done in this area, LinkedIn’s report revealed. Only a third of TA professionals in the US and UK the platform surveyed in September said their teams are able to combine AI and human skills to drive strategy in line with business goals, LinkedIn found.
The Korn Ferry report confirmed another familiar point. AI may dominate the headlines, but 73% of AT leaders still consider critical thinking skills their #1 priority when evaluating potential hires. In particular, organizations want employees who can evaluate AI recommendations, assess their outcome, spot flaws and know when to override their results, the report notes.
Findings from a September report from the talent portfolio company’s AGM suggest so labor realities may increase the challenge for AT practitioners.
The General Assembly found that less than a quarter of U.S. business executives at the vice president level said entry-level workers were very or completely prepared to do their jobs, and nearly a third said entry-level hires were hardly or not at all prepared.
While the report found that business leaders believe training is primarily the responsibility of workers, the General Assembly CEO warned that as AI increasingly affects the entry pipeline, employers have a responsibility to invest in training the next generation or soon face a critical skills shortage.
