Four out of five Australian managers say new employees must be AI-ready: Microsoft

Four out of five Australian managers say new hires will need skills to manage the growth of artificial intelligence in the workplace, Microsoft says, reflecting the current buzz around next-generation technology.

Microsoft’s latest Work Trend Index, released Thursday, sought feedback from 31,000 people worldwide, including 1,000 Australians, to gauge how business leaders are adapting to the wave of emerging AI technologies.

The findings show that 85% of Australian business leaders say new employees they hire will need skills allowing them to adapt to and harness the power of artificial intelligence, a slight bump over the global average of 82%.

The figures represent a remarkable surge in the awareness and perceived desirability of AI integrations, as text-based platforms like ChatGPT extend into new corners of the business ecosystem, and business management platforms tout the power of their new data-crunching systems.

Some 31% of Australian managers expect AI technologies to boost efficiency in the workplace, with those respondents most keen about the potential of advanced tools to cut down on mundane tasks and other busywork.

Even as managers tout AI skills as key criteria for new hires, workers themselves express an uneasy relationship with tools their bosses say will boost productivity.

Some 46% of Australian workers are concerned artificial intelligence tools will replace their jobs outright, the report suggests; however, 64% say they would use AI to automate parts of their workload, allowing them to focus on more ‘human’ aspects of their job.

Headcount reduction is definitely on the radar for some of Australia’s corporate leaders.

The data shows 14% of Australian managers expect AI tools to eventually reduce their company’s headcount.

Research suggests AI can reduce hiring biases

While the Microsoft data explores how Australian business leaders expect new hires to harness AI, a separate study outlines how AI can be used to improve the hiring process itself.

Research led by Professor Andreas Leibbrandt of Monash University suggests harnessing AI during recruitment could have a two-fold benefit on workplace diversity.

In the first instance, applicants for a web developer job role were informed that an AI chat process would be used to evaluate their application, instead of a traditional screening process.

That notice led to 33% more women completing their application than would have been expected in a traditional recruiting process.

In a second experiment, some application evaluators were randomly handed applicant scores assigned by an AI, while others were not.

Crucially, the gender of those applicants was also hidden from some evaluators.

The research found the discrepancy in final scores between male and female applicants could be explained by evaluators knowing their gender, irrespective of whether the AI system assigned an initial score or not.

That research used technology developed by Sapia.ai, a Victorian hiring automation startup promising companies higher application completion rates and reduced human bias in the hiring process.

Sapia.ai founder and CEO Barb Hyman told SmartCompany that the findings of the second experiment came as a surprise to the Monash University team.

More broadly, she positioned the results as an example of artificial intelligence actively helping employees, particularly those from traditionally overlooked backgrounds, instead of locking them out of the workplace.

“There are a large group of people out there who believe that AI is doing bad, and you can’t conceive of an AI that isn’t amplifying human decisions,” she said.

“I think they were the ones that were really shocked at the results, and have become converted to the power of AI to really impact [the results] in a really measurable way.”

As for the Microsoft data showing Australian managers are increasingly looking for AI-centric skills within their workforces, Hyman suggested top-to-bottom AI utilisation is no silver bullet for companies.

“You don’t want to solve for AI, you want to solve for what the business needs,” she said.

“[But] from a manager’s perspective, I think the managers who can leverage AI, and are comfortable and understand AI, will replace those who don’t, for sure.”