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Africa readies for organisations of the future

By , ITWeb
Africa , 27 Jun 2017

Africa readies for organisations of the future

The future of work will accelerate the fastest in the next five years as a result of the current evolution of technology, according to Deloitte's recent Global Human Capital Trends survey. The research found that the augmented workforce, robotics, cognitive computing, and AI – most prioritised by African human capital professionals – will significantly steer the future of work.

Deloitte surveyed more than 10 400 business and HR leaders across 140 countries to reveal how organisations are turning to new organisational models and focusing on innovation-based HR platforms; learning and career programs driven by social and cognitive technologies; as well as employee experience strategies that put the workforce at the centre.

In Africa, 87% of human capital professionals rated each trend as important or very important.

"The new era, referred widely as the fourth industrial revolution, has fundamentally transformed business, the broader economy, and society," says Brett Walsh, global leader of human capital at Deloitte. "It is abundantly clear that technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate."

Despite the alarming evolution of technology, the report notes that business productivity has stood at its lowest rate since the early 1970s (1.3%). According to Deloitte, only 12% of Fortune 500 companies from 1955 are still in business, with 26% falling off the list last year alone. However, the report found that more organisations today are more focused on redesigning the organisation itself, with nearly half actively studying and developing new models.

88% of the survey respondents believe that building the organisation of the future is an important or very important issue. More than 59% say the issue is very important, a 3% increase from last year and only 11% believe they understand how to build the organisation of the future.

According to the World Economic Forum's Human Capital Index, Sub-Saharan Africa currently only captures 55% of its human capital potential, compared to a global average of 65%. By 2030, the African continent's working-age population is set to increase by two-thirds, from 370 million adults in 2010 to over 600 million.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the world's youngest region with more than 60% of its population under the age of 25.

15 to 20 million increasingly well-educated young people are expected to join the African workforce every year for the next three decades, delivering the ecosystem for quality jobs and future skills to match.

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