How generative AI can ignite national productivity in Australia

National productivity: woman in an office smiling at the phone in her hand

Nearly 1.68 million jobs will be added to Australia’s economy over the next five years to meet gross domestic product targets, according to Impact AI: 2024 Workforce Skills Forecast by ServiceNow and Pearson. That’s higher than the expected rate of workforce growth by approximately 600,000 workers.

This puts employers at risk of being unable to fill one out of every three positions and scrambling to entice workers from the same pool.

Industries set to experience the biggest surge in worker demand—healthcare, government, and education—are already struggling to source talent. Simply adding more headcount, whether by migration, offshoring, or outsourcing, won’t solve the national productivity issue.

More critically, these stopgaps overlook the country’s greatest strengths: its talented workforce and global track record as a rapid adopter of technology.

Right skills, right job, right time

Seizing this economic opportunity requires leaders to pursue two priorities:

  1. Empower employees by deploying generative AI (GenAI) across systems and processes. This can uplift productivity, helping save time equivalent to 970,000 additional roles, according to our research. GenAI can help automate low-value tasks and rebalance the predicted talent deficit, reducing the worker gap to 860,000.
  2. Ensure the right skills are in the right places. Where gaps exist, leaders can reinvest GenAI’s capacity gains into helping their people build skills portfolios that match the needs of the industry.

Many Australian executives believe they have enough people to fill their resource gaps, but they know they’re not deploying them effectively. While today’s workforce must meet today’s demands, entirely new roles and job categories are emerging as industries such as digital health evolve.
Leading organizations are using generative AI to redesign work and evaluate their talent differently. They’re not putting departments in boxes or confining people to job codes anymore.
Leading organizations are using GenAI to redesign work and evaluate their talent differently. They’re not putting departments in boxes or confining people to job codes anymore. Instead, they’re encouraging mobility and motivating employees to take control of their own skills development.

When repetitive, routine tasks are automated, effort shifts toward higher-value, more rewarding work—but employees need support to develop and grow into new areas.

Workforce mapping strategies can help leaders assess their workforce by individual skills. These insights can be evaluated alongside current and predicted gaps so that HR and talent development teams can identify opportunities for upskilling and reskilling.

Individuals need to understand that a rebalancing of the job market is happening to fill gaps across every industry. My advice is to make sure you understand your skills path over the next five years so that you can take advantage of the onslaught of new, higher-paying jobs.

Pathways for future-proofing

Industries across Australia are set to hire more systems software developers, information systems managers, and other tech workers. The democratization of AI means technology pathways are now within reach for more individuals than ever before. To add value in those roles, however, employees need soft skills as well, such as business strategy, process management, and collaboration.

Australian organizations could benefit from a platform that can incentivize people to share their skills and interests. Digital tools can then map those skills and interests to the needs of the business.
Employees can strengthen their career prospects by developing skills to understand and solve industry challenges with emerging technologies. A portfolio that includes a mix of digital skills (with some emphasis on AI), technical industry knowledge, and evergreen soft skills is ideal.

Australian organizations could benefit from a platform that can incentivize people to share their skills and interests. Digital tools can then map those skills and interests to the needs of the business. GenAI can be used to help tutor people in developing new skills.

This knowledge and coaching technology is already available on the ServiceNow platform. Talent Development harnesses the power of AI to proactively guide and develop talent.

However, it takes more than AI to make upskilling worth employees’ time. Leaders need to show their people that skilling can lead to career growth and greater earning potential.

To propel Australia’s economic ambitions, businesses and governments must work together to create skilling and training opportunities. The best way to do this is by understanding which skills are on the rise and which are on the wane.

Find out how ServiceNow can help your organization maximize your people power.