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Hire Dynamics founder and executive chair, Dan Campbell, believes that a fourth Industrial Revolution has begun. In an era of artificial intelligence, Big Data, robotics, and automation, many wonder what the jobs of the future will look like. The solution can be found at the heart of Hire Dynamics’ commitment to put people first, forming emotional connections, and building lasting relationships.

Dan recently spoke at HR Star on the topic of “The Future of Work.” As technology integration reduces jobs, demand for soft skills increases. The McKinsey Global Institute notes that, “While tasks are being automated, the essentially ‘human’ parts of work are becoming more important. Skills such as empathy, communication, persuasion, personal service, problem-solving, and strategic decision making are more valuable than ever.” Successful staffing firms and human resources officers will need to start acclimating technically skilled talent with people-oriented talent.

The trajectory of career paths are also changing. Gone are the days when a candidate begins their career in the mailroom of a firm, working their way up into a corner office, and eventually retiring from the same firm they started with. Employers can now be more selective in their choice of candidates due to technological integration making the workforce more efficient, if less populated. The exception is five key sectors: professional/managerial, healthcare, industrial, engineering/information technology/scientific, and office/clerical/administrative. These jobs are, and will continue to be, in high demand. However, skills gaps in the current workforce leads to these positions remaining open on an average of seven to nine months.

There is a unique opportunity for both private and public staffing firm clients to come together to further develop the current workforce as well as future generations of job hunters. Professional development and continuing skills education will display care for individuals from major corporate levels to small business owners. Institutions of higher learning can better prepare students by combining vocational skills training, technological instruction, and liberal arts techniques for integrated interdisciplinary studies. In a recent interview, Dan identifies the “irony plaguing many staffing companies, whose job it is to place the right talent into the right positions, but they often do a poor job of creating a fulfilling culture for their employees to feel valued.”

Executives can also change their focus from strictly human capital to managing a complex workforce of humans, artificial intelligence, and robots. As a wide range of industries turn to automated systems, executives and hiring managers must also pivot. Human capital specialists will be able to balance jobs that are replaced by technology, jobs that are changed by technology, and jobs that are created by technology.

Hire Dynamics, as a staffing industry leader, can embrace these changes and recognize the future role of a workforce that feels, looks, and acts differently. While there is significant uncertainty in addressing the changing needs of the future working public, there are also tremendous opportunities and likelihood of increasing productivity for a sustained period of time.