Cisco, Microsoft, and Google are among the companies leading the creation of a consortium to address AI’s impact on the technology workforce.
Cisco, along with Accenture, Eightfold, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft, and SAP, spearheads the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium. This collaborative effort aims to evaluate AI’s impact on technology jobs and devise skill development pathways for roles vulnerable to AI.
Consortium members are a diverse array of companies at the forefront of AI innovation, aware of AI’s current and future impact on the workforce. The Consortium stresses that each member has independently studied AI’s implications, identifying both opportunities and challenges. Through collaboration, these organisations seek to consolidate insights, foster action plans, and implement solutions within their spheres of influence.
Francine Katsoudas, Executive Vice President and Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer at Cisco, commented:
AI is accelerating the pace of change for the global workforce, presenting a powerful opportunity for the private sector to help upskill and reskill workers for the future. The mission of our newly unveiled AI-Enabled Workforce Consortium is to provide organizations with knowledge about the impact of AI on the workforce and equip workers with relevant skills.”
The AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium aims to address the urgent need for AI-skilled workers across business operations. Leveraging its members and advisors, the Consortium aims to promote inclusive reskilling and upskilling programs for various stakeholders, including students, career switchers, IT professionals, employers, and educators.
These initiatives are designed to scale up workforce skills for the AI era, fostering widespread engagement with AI technologies.
“I am grateful to the consortium members for joining in this effort to confront the new workforce needs arising in the wake of AI’s rapid development,” added US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This work will help provide unprecedented insight on the specific skill needs for these jobs. I hope that this Consortium is just the beginning and that the private sector sees this as a call to action to ensure our workforces can reap the benefits of AI.”
The Consortium says it draws inspiration from the TTC’s Talent for Growth Task Force, guided by Chuck Robbins of Cisco and with input from the US Department of Commerce. Established in June 2021, the TTC aims to enhance US and EU competitiveness and prosperity through collaborative trade, technology, and security efforts, fostering democratic approaches.
What Are The Specifics Of The Consortium’s Plan?
Initial work intends to culminate in a report with actionable insights for business leaders and employees. The Consortium says it will share further details soon and will aspire to offer practical guidance for employers on preparing their workforce for AI-driven environments through reskilling and upskilling initiatives.
In its initial phase, the Consortium intends to assess AI’s impact on 56 ICT job roles and offer training recommendations for impacted positions. These roles encompass 80 percent of the top 45 ICT job titles, with the highest job postings between February 2023 and 2024 in the US and five major European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands), representing a total of 10 million ICT workers.
Recognising the growing significance of AI across industries, Consortium members insist they are committed to fostering an inclusive workforce with sustainable opportunities. They aim to develop worker pathways, especially in sectors integrating AI, intending to positively impact over 95 million individuals globally within the next decade through skills development and training programs.
The consortium member goals include Cisco’s pledge to train 25 million people with cybersecurity and digital skills by 2032, IBM’s promise to skill 30 million individuals by 2030 in digital skills, including 2 million in AI, and Microsoft’s goal to train and certify 10 million people from “underserved communities with in-demand digital skills for jobs and livelihood opportunities in the digital economy” by 2025.
Other goals include Intel’s pledge to reskill over 30 million people with AI skills for current and future jobs by 2030 and SAP’s to upskill two million people worldwide by 2025. Google recently announced €25 million in funding to assist in AI training and skills for people across Europe.
Another Seismic Week in AI
The Consortium isn’t the only source for a groundbreaking AI agreement this week. The UK and US governments have formally agreed to collaborate on AI safety and research.
The partnership, signed by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, involves both nations aligning their scientific approaches to accelerate and iterate robust evaluations of AI models, systems, and agents.
Confirmed as a memorandum of understanding, signed on Monday, April 1, this landmark declaration builds upon the foundations of the UK AI Summit, held in November.
The US and UK AI Safety Institutes have outlined plans to establish a unified approach to AI safety testing and to exchange capabilities to address these risks effectively. Their initiatives include conducting joint testing exercises on publicly accessible models and exploring personnel exchanges to leverage a collective pool of expertise.
