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Workforce automation typically sounds either exciting or anxiety inducing. If you’re just starting out in your career, maybe workforce automation has the potential to��increase both the speed and quality��of your output. (Exciting!)

If, on the other hand, you’re a subject-matter expert or you have decades of experience in one role, the prospect of being��replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) or a robot��seems both imminent and worrisome. (Anxiety inducing!)

Love it or hate it, however,��workforce automation��will likely continue to change the scope of work across industries. Here’s what you should know.

What is workforce automation?

Automation and the future of work

Despite concerns of how automation might impact the future of employment, many roles most affected by automation are those that require little to no expertise.

“Automation first impacts jobs that require mundane or repetitive tasks — think cashiers and file clerks,” Roper says.

The good news? Automating these jobs doesn’t necessarily mean the workers they replace will become unemployed.

“While we do see automation impacting some jobs, it is never going to fully replace human workers,” says Roper.

After all, cashiers and file clerks can monitor these processes and offer human assistance when technologies run awry. As Roper describes it, “Automation and AI are effective for taking on structured, low-skilled tasks, but they lack the ability to complete activities that require emotional intelligence, creativity or contextual awareness.”

In her view, even industries highly impacted by automation will always need human workers, even if their roles and duties change.

So, robots won’t be taking my job?

The hidden impact of automation: Skills-based hiring

The rise in automation is not only changing the nature of work; it’s also changing hiring practices. Roper and her team have specifically witnessed a huge shift toward��skills-based hiring.

“In the early 2000s, we saw many employers adding degree requirements to their jobs,” Roper says. “Now we are seeing many employers eliminating these requirements in favor of skills.”

Such a focus will impact everything from resumés to the kinds of degrees undergraduates pursue. It also means that job seekers must not only have certain skills but also be able to articulate and demonstrate those skills to a potential employer.

What skills are highly sought these days? According to Roper, they’re always shifting. However, “critical thinking and emotional intelligence are two skills that are a mainstay,” she says.

We now live in a world that is inundated with information, and the ability to analyze data logically and effectively is valuable across jobs and industries.

“Emotional intelligence is all about��interpersonal relationships,” Roper says, “and I don’t think there is a job out there that doesn’t require you to communicate with a team member.”

Diversify your skill set

A����found almost 50% of millennial and Gen Z professionals are looking to work for companies that��offer options for continual learning.

This phenomenon is highlighted by the growing pool of professionals who no longer consider climbing the corporate ladder a measurement of career success. Instead, many professionals are making crucial��horizontal moves��to widen the breadth of their skill set.

According to Roper, this is a game changer for the future of professional development. “I am a huge advocate for making career moves and��gaining experience in multiple areas,” she says. “In fact, with the rise of skills-based hiring, employers are looking for diverse work experience when hiring and are promoting professional development and new skill acquisition throughout their employees’ tenure.”

The benefit of this approach is twofold: Employees have the license to explore diverse interests and even combine interests and career paths, while workers gain a better and more diversely skilled workforce.

“For example, I know of a student who was changing careers from education to behavioral health and counseling,” Roper recalls. “She was able to leverage her experience as a high school art teacher to propose using art as a form of therapy with her clients.” Such a nuanced approach can only happen when job seekers��tailor their experiences��to their personal goals and interests.��

As machines and robots continue to change and transform the workforce, workers will likely be at an advantage if they accrue a wide variety of skills and education while also maintaining digital fluency. The future of work, after all, most likely will require the best of both worlds.