Future State 2025

Chapter 4Macro Challenges for Tomorrow's Executive Leaders

There seem to be plenty of jobs around, but somehow it feels as if something isn't quite right. From our perspective here in the technology sector, we have to ask ourselves if the jobs numbers are obscuring deeper challenges. “The country faces a tight labor market, with a million more job openings than there are eligible workers to fill them. That dynamic is complicated by a pool of workers that lacks the skills for some of the jobs available,” wrote Jeff Cox of CNBC.¹

As Cox notes, there are plenty of unemployed job seekers “who have skills but can't seem to find the right jobs to fit their qualifications.”

The mismatch between openings and applicants is especially problematic in the tech sector. Ginni Rometty, who served for more than eight years as the CEO of IBM, recently spoke to Lori Ioannou of CNBC about the importance of using artificial intelligence to match applicants with jobs they will be passionate about doing. She also said she expects “AI to change 100 percent of jobs within the next five to 10 years.”²

Rometty's comments highlight a major trend that all of us in the tech industry should be watching closely. I believe that, as technology leaders, we have a genuine responsibility to stay ahead of the curve.

“Rometty's call to action comes at a time when the AI skills gap and the future of work exhibit a growing sense of urgency,” Ioannou wrote. “The technology sector accounts for 10 percent of U.S. GDP ...