Employers help mature workers adopt AI

Jensen Huang, CEO Nvidia is noted for saying: “AI is not going to take your job. The person who uses AI is going to take your job.” Additionally, an OECD Report, 2023 states: “Workers aged 55-65 are 25%-30% less likely to receive digital skills training than younger peers. … those who do retrain often perform comparably in AI-supported roles.” These two statements point to the undeniable fact that employers who take their duty of care to their employees seriously, can avoid unnecessary stress on the workforce and anxiety among mature workers when AI is being introduced to their organisation.  UK’s Age UK and the Centre for Ageing Better amplify this point by saying: “Employers must integrate age-inclusive digital training to avoid marginalization.”

How employers can help employees

Employees are a vital asset to the organisation and therefore, all AI projects must include a key component focused on workforce management and training. To do this effectively organisations need to consider the following:

Patience – be intentional about support, customise AI training and avoid marginalizing mature workers.
Skills audit – understand the needs of the workforce with a strategy that includes, not excludes mature workers.
Encourage collaboration – enable mature workers to participate in AI projects.
Trainers – develop mature workers to be AI Trainers especially on basic workflow tools.
Open-mindedness – focus on ‘potential’ as opposed to current ability
Build trust – make the workplace a ‘safe place’ for risk taking.
Feedback – welcome suggestions from mature workers and monitor impact of AI training.