If 2024 has revealed anything, apart from a lot of petty politics, it’s the staying power of artificial intelligence.

According to the latest research, the potential economic impact of AI is in trillions of dollars. McKinsey consulting firm claims AI will “trigger the next wave of productivity,” as MIT researchers call it technology with the greatest economic impact in the world.

There is value in economic theory, but what about actual people? How will human beings be affected by the changing world of work? After all, almost 40% of all jobs it will only be affected by AI in one way or another. And people will feel a mixture of restless and uprooted.

The proliferation of time-saving tools – now supercharged with AI offerings like ChatGPT – has led to a cosmic shift in what is required of employees in support professions such as customer service professionals, HR officers, program managers and even executive coaches like myself.

So we have to ask: How can employers help create the changes they need to see in their workplace? And more importantly, how can they change the world of work in a humane way? How can cosmic change take place not only with efficiency in mind, but also with basic integrity and social responsibility?

The callous, simply market-driven “solution” to the changing nature of work is to fire those whose skill sets are no longer needed (or perceived as such) and hire those who can start. indeed more than 40 percent of global CEOs expect to hire fewer people due to AI.

This means more and more losses for companies today. The business costs associated with downsizing and hiring are massive—about $1 trillion annually for US companies only. They are especially pronounced when competitors and other peers follow suit, limiting the pool of available, competent people with the skills needed in our changing world.

Ideally, the global workforce will grow with the needs of the global business community. To enable this, employers will need to take the lead in reskilling and upskilling workers so they can contribute meaningfully in a world with ChatGPT from OpenAI, Google Gemini and Microsoft Azure. The concepts of reskilling and upskilling are not new, but they take on unprecedented urgency with the growing application of AI and wider technological disruption.

Workforce development is the human approach to change in the workplace. Only when people—especially mid- and senior-level employees whose skills are now “outdated” and face displacement—have the opportunity to learn new, in-demand skills can they find work and excel at it. Such development is inextricably linked not only to job security and financial freedom, but also to dignity.

Today’s managers, from the C-suite on down, must recognize the increased importance of reskilling and upskilling and actively prioritize it as a helping hand. This is not purely altruistic: investment in reskilling and upskilling the current workforce has the potential to boost global economic activity by trillions of dollars in the following years. This means new companies, new jobs and countless new opportunities for people to succeed.

Fortunately, many employers are already making strides in workforce development. To invest in priorities like reskilling and upskilling, business executives are asked and asked what they envision they need—in terms of short-term and long-term skills—of those who support their success. Forward-looking leaders are defining new job descriptions for the support jobs of the future, reinventing key roles and not just replacing them.

I speak with organizational leaders daily, and employers are actively recognizing and rewarding staff members who are using artificial intelligence and other emerging tools to develop more efficient ways of working. Managers show their appreciation for workers who realize how AI can streamline email communications or make group presentations more accurate and informative. They support innovators in the workplace by gaining buy-in from superiors to standardize work with greater efficiency.

Education cannot be overstated either. Some companies are doubling down on emerging critical skill sets of the day by creating internal training academies or sending dedicated employees to intensive training programs abroad (often with a service agreement).

The bottom line is that organizations need to adopt a change management approach to adaptability, with a special focus on the human side of change. Effective change management gives those affected time to understand what is changing for them every day. As roles and responsibilities evolve, workplace leaders and their teams need to identify opportunities to meet affected individuals on a human level, exploring how future changes can align with their professional goals and personal aspirations.

Communication is paramount and there is no room for fear of judgment or failure. Expertise comes with time; none of us can master a new trade overnight.

As long as employers remember the human side of work and respond to AI responsibly, disruption need not be scary. The change that follows can be handled humanely.