94% of people have concerns about working alongside machines and AI

Many business leaders see the 'human to hybrid' transition as their most pressing and important priority, but over 90% need practical support.

They also believe that this transition will be their most important strategic challenge in the next five years.

Up to 67% fear that if they don’t address this, their organisation will become irrelevant, but 94% have told us they need practical support to access information, clarify strategy, retrain people, and create agile organisations that can adapt to rapidly changing markets.

What is a human to hybrid workforce? We define it as: "The new dynamic where humans will work in a fully digitised and technologically optimised environment, and increasingly work alongside robots and AI, which will happen over next ten years."

Understanding the challenges

Our recent survey of 500 business leaders revealed that the transition is an immediate concern, as 93% acknowledge they need to start proactively managing this move within the next four months, and 72% view this as their most important priority.

Businesses cannot afford to fail - more than half the UK workforce will leave their jobs if the transition is mismanaged.

We also found that more than 90% of leaders recognise the importance of an adaptable organisation, and 88% said increasing employee skills and training for new roles was critical.

According to 88% of leaders, a successful transition will require a three-pronged approach:

• using digital technology
• incorporating data gathering and analysis, and
• capitalising on the skills and capabilities of their people.

Many people are positive about a hybrid workforce, but 46% worry there will be little human interaction at work, 26% are anxious about a lack of opportunities to progress, and 23% fear a less inclusive and diverse staff. People identify benefits too, however, with 44% seeing increased opportunities to learn new skills, 40% welcoming greater flexibility, and 32% anticipating more interesting and varied work.

The evidence indicates that a considered, structured approach is necessary, driven by clear leadership from the top.