About 40 per cent of the global workforce believe their job will be obsolete within 5 years due to accelerated automation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by PwC.

The survey of 32,500 workers in 19 countries including India found that 60 per cent are worried that automation is putting many jobs at risk; 48 per cent feel 'traditional employment won't be around in the future'.

However, this is not a counsel of despair, as 40 per cent of workers said their digital skills have been improved through the prolonged period of lockdown, and claim they'll continue to embrace training and skill development. 77 per cent are 'ready to learn new skills or completely re-train' and 74 per cent see training as a matter of personal responsibility. And, 80 per cent are confident they can adapt to new technologies entering their workplace, with a large majority of those asked in India (69 per cent) and in South Africa (66 per cent) saying they are ‘very’ confident.

Additionally, 49 per cent of respondents are focused on building entrepreneurial skills with an interest in setting up their own business.

The study also found that 50 per cent of workers witnessed discrimination at work which led to them missing out on career advancement or training. 13 per cent report missing out on opportunities as a result of ethnicity and 14 per cent of workers have experienced discrimination on the grounds of gender, with women twice as likely to report gender discrimination as men. 13 per cent report discrimination on the basis of class, with post-graduates and others with higher qualifications more likely to report prejudice.

The survey concluded that remote working will persist post-lockdown. Of those who can work remotely, 72 per cent of say they prefer a mixture of in-person and remote working, with only 9 per cent stating they’d like to go back to their traditional work environment full-time. This is particularly true of professionals, office workers, business owners and the self-employed, all of whom are able to perform their jobs remotely using technology.

Chaitali Mukherjee, People and Organisation, Upskilling and HR Transformation Leader, PwC India said “Remote working is just going to be part of how we do business in the future. With ongoing investments in technology, virtual collaboration will become a seamless part of the employee experience.”