The future of work will not be an environment that pits people against machines, but rather one where human capabilities are enhanced through collaboration with machines.

While the envisioned future of modernisation and automation instils often-misplaced fear, the increasing opportunities presented by the future of work allow the “reimagining and evolvement” of work, workplaces and workforces.

“Humans and machines will need to work together in a designed system that requires societal-, organisational- and individual-level participation,” says Deloitte Africa chief digital and innovation officer Valter Adão.

Technological advances, demographic shifts and consumer influence are fundamentally changing the way people work and the way organisations design jobs and environments.

“Some see this as a challenge, but it can be an opportunity to reimagine talent models, organisational practices and business models.

“When human achievement can be enhanced through collaboration with the machines, there is an opportunity to excel,” says Adão.

The future of work signifies the opportunity to evolve workforces and workplaces, shaped by the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace and the expansion of the workforce to include an open talent continuum.

“Not only is the worker going off campus and off balance sheet, but the work is also becoming increasingly augmented by technology, which frees up greater capacity for higher-order cognitive tasks,” he continues.

In line with this, Deloitte predicts a movement towards a “STEMpathetic” workforce: where technical knowledge, encompassing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), converge with cognitive social skills, such as connecting with other people and communicating effectively.

Research suggests that more than 30% of high-paying new jobs will likely be social and “essentially” human in nature.

“These increasingly sophisticated technologies have caused the nature of work to shift away from relatively routine work environments to ones filled with growing diversity and complexity.”

In particular, there has been growth in highly cognitive nonroutine work, including professional or managerial work.

“The future of work could create more good jobs, if organisational leaders are able to evolve their jobs by crafting them to make the most out of their employees’ inherent nature to be social creatures and creative problem solvers.

Adão points out that, for every job lost to automation, digitalisation and modernisation, there could be two jobs created if the transition is properly organised and prepared for by stakeholders – and a proactive approach is taken.

“If the transition is a reactive one, then we will see the loss of jobs.

If we are effective and we increase our global competitiveness through productivity, then we expand the economic base of the country and organisations and, as a result, they will need more employees to facilitate economic expansion.”