Poles see positive impact of new technologies on work environment

The PwC study "Upskilling Hopes & Fears 2021" shows that when thinking about work in the future, 37 percent of employees in Poland are positive about change – they are excited about new opportunities (21 percent) or at least confident that they will be successful (16 percent). At the same time, 40 percent are afraid of what the coming years will bring. In the world, the group of optimists who see the future of the labor market in bright colors is much larger (50 percent), although still every third respondent expresses concern.

57 percent of professionally active Poles believe that technologies create more opportunities for employees than threats. At the same time, 2/3 of respondents admit that automation poses a certain risk for some jobs, but when asked whether they are afraid of the negative impact of automation on their own professional career, 45 percent of the respondents answered no, and 38 percent – yes. Therefore, we are much more confident in our professional future than employees in the world, where these proportions are opposite – 31 percent and 45 percent respectively.

Moreover, 53 percent of employees in Poland say that it is unlikely that technological advances will make their work obsolete in the next five years. In the world, the group expressing the same assumption is much smaller and amounts to 39 percent, which is exactly the same as considering this scenario as probable. More than half of the respondents in Poland (52 percent; 59 percent in the world) expect that technological changes will positively affect the prospects of their employment in the future.

The main factor that will change the labor market in 3-5 years is, according to more than half of respondents in Poland (51 percent), the rapid technological progress. The second place (49 percent of responses) was taken by the change in employee preferences, including the willingness to work remotely and / or hybrid, followed by demographic changes (43 percent) and the scarcity of natural resources and climate change (42 percent).

"The conclusions from our report clearly show that Poles see the positive impact of new technologies on the work environment. Most of us are not afraid of digitization and are confident in their professional position, while being aware that acquiring new skills is a must," Katarzyna Komorowska, PwC partner, leader of the People & Organization team, said. 

(WBJ)