What’s Next at Work? Much Change, and Likely Some Pain for Employees

Workers, brace yourselves.

The rise of artificial intelligence and other new technology may mean plenty of roles and professions shift in the coming years, displacing some employees and requiring far different skills and training, according to executives in a range of industries.

In sessions at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival this week, some leaders gave blunt assessments of the coming transition and said current employees may not be able to adapt.

“This is the hard part: I’m not sure we can upskill everyone. I don’t think they’re going to make it. It’ll take too long,” said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor, in an onstage interview on Wednesday. “There’s going to be a big shift in know-how in the company.”

At Ford, the automaker will still need traditional roles such as powertrain engineers and supply-chain specialists to help it manufacture vehicles, but it will also require employees with more digital expertise, Mr. Farley said. The company has been recruiting more technical employees, and its office in Silicon Valley is now full of such workers, he said.

“There’s a new skill set we’re going to need, and I don’t think I can teach everyone,” he said. “It’ll take too much time. So there’s going to be disruption.”

For years, workplace specialists predicted that technology would upend work, often warning that blue-collar jobs could be most affected by automation. More recently, though, many leaders see AI as having a far greater potential impact on corporate employees than hourly workers.

At the hotel giant Hilton, CEO Chris Nassetta said he could see AI being used in marketing, revenue management, customer insights and finance functions in the company.

Many executives said they were still unclear about AI’s role inside companies, and some expressed optimism about how the technology could free workers from drudgery.

“AI is going to take away a lot of mundane tasks from people and hopefully free people up to spend more time creatively, spend more time with the people they want to spend time with,” said Marissa Mayer, the former Yahoo CEO. She is now the CEO and co-founder of the startup Sunshine, whose product helps people to better manage their digital contacts.

Others said AI potentially could help with tasks such as summarising messages from colleagues, freeing employees from reading hundreds of emails and other communication.

“When there is so much happening in organisations, AI can also help you focus,” said Lidiane Jones, CEO of the messaging platform Slack. “So out of my 5,000 pings, what are the things that I should really prioritise?”

Labor leaders said they, too, were eyeing AI’s influence on the workplace. Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, said she hopes any sort of efficiency benefits achieved through AI would be shared with workers.

“Workers really need to be at the table to make sure that these are going to be technologies that are going to work for us, and give us more tools to do our job,” she said. “So we do want to implement these things in a way where, No. 1, we are sharing the benefits of that productivity, and that’s going into everyone’s pockets who’s a part of that company.”

Beyond technology, executives said they were seeing other changes in the job market. It is now easier to hire cooks, housekeepers and other hotel employees than it was earlier in the pandemic, Hilton’s Mr. Nassetta said, though he added that the hospitality industry is still dealing with some labor shortages. He also called for changes to immigration policies to enable more workers to come to the U.S.

“There just aren’t enough people in our country in terms of service-level jobs to do the things that we need to do,” he said. “If we don’t think about immigration really sensibly, we’re eventually going to stunt the growth of our economy.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his administration was considering flexible hours and other benefits to get more people to take jobs with the city. Mayor Adams also said he was concerned by layoffs among financial companies in New York.

“It’s crucial that we stabilise Wall Street,” he said. “Wall Street is so important to the economic stability of the city.”

Throughout the event, a number of speakers also sprinkled their remarks with guidance for professionals looking to navigate the challenges of careers. Fashion designer Michael Kors said he made the biggest mistakes in his career when he became too focused on others.

“You cannot constantly be looking at everyone else. You can’t look over your shoulder. You have to do what’s right for you,” Mr. Kors said. “Listen to your gut. Move slowly. Stay focused.”