It is hard to imagine the number of jobs that have are able to be automated and digitized. It may seem like an elusive concept with no clear starting point or even what is technically possible. But this is exactly where Grexx can make a difference something about!

The American consulting giant McKinsey, led by James Manyika, conducted years of research studying automating and digitalizing tasks titled, A Future That Works: automation, employment and productivity (2017). Their findings include compelling data on digital transformation still relevant today, even though it was published some years ago. And if you have even a handful of knowledge about what has been added in terms of technological developments in recent years, it’s still safe to say that the impact outlined in 2017 will only grow more in 2023. McKinsey revisited this topic in June 2023, but more on that later!

At Grexx, of course, we love these kinds of studies. They may be rather bulky and lengthy publications, which is why we are pleased to highlight some of them for you in this article. You can also find these findings in McKinsey's publications Four fundamentals of workplace automation (2015) and Where machines could replace humans - and where they can’t (yet) (2016). of which are worthwhile reads.

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The labor market in focus.

The researchers analyzed the US labor market and selected roughly 800 dead-end jobs and about 2,000 tasks that are found throughout these occupations. They represent these findings in the chart below:

• In the left column, the list of occupations: including salespeople, hospitality workers, teachers, and health care workers 

• In the middle column, the tasks performed by these professionals: for example, salespeople welcome customers, answer questions about products and services, keep the workplace tidy, give product demos and process sales and transaction.
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The researchers analysed those 2,000 tasks and identified the necessary capabilities, or skills, needed as a human (or machine!) to perform the task well. 

• In the right-hand column, you will find 18 different capabilities, divided into three categories: social, cognitive, and physical skills.

This analysis focuses on the American job market, outlining tasks and competencies required for many jobs. With that information, it can then be concluded which part of the job can be replaced by technology.

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Technology is constantly evolving.

In the span of six years between 2017 and 2023, the number of capabilities in which technology can play a role has increased significantly. One obvious example is developments in AI and language modeling. In 2015, when we started, ChatGPT did not exist and neither could we imagine such a system.

Recently, McKinsey returned to this 2017 report in a new study on generative AI, The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier (2023). It became clear that much more is now possible than was thought at the time of the earlier study in 2017. The proportion of skills that can be automated is rising substantially, and faster than expected. The report also indicates that the adoption of these new techniques is still considerably slow. In other words, there is a wealth of potential, but we are still doing relatively little with it.

💡 Want to read more about the impact of generative AI? You can download the report here and on page 34, you can read more about what has been discussed above.

It’s important to note that since the 2017 study, there have been a) numerous new developments in all sorts of areas and b) there are also developments that you are not yet aware exist. As the technology continues to evolve, the number of capabilities that can be filled by technology will only continue to increase.