As automation replaces millions of jobs, we'll need a thorough rethinking of career education and skills training. IBM's head of HR, Diane Gherson, is providing a model for what's possible.
Since taking the role in 2013, Gherson has overseen IBM's own transformation, using the very tools that will eliminate jobs to help employees find new roles within the company.
For example, the AI-powered Blue Matching program ensures that workers whose roles are eliminated — or who simply want new opportunities — have a chance to learn needed skills for a continuing presence at IBM. Meanwhile, the CogniPay system uses AI to generate salaries.
The shift to a skills-based company, rather than one based solely on résumés and head count, allows for a larger talent pool. If a role is eliminated, those employees don't necessarily need to be laid off. Plus, not all job applicants need four-year degrees.
"What are we going to do? Leave all these people behind?" she told Business Insider. "That's our talent base. So we've got to find ways of making them ready for the workforce, and the fact that they don't have a degree is not the end of the world, but they do need to get on a path to getting good jobs."