A new study, conducted by TrygFonden in collaboration with Aalborg University, sheds light on a growing concern among Danish employees regarding technological development and the future labor market. According to the survey, as reported by Berlingske, almost 40 percent of Danish workers are worried about whether their current skills will be sufficient in a future where technology such as artificial intelligence becomes more significant.
It is noteworthy that this concern is not exclusive to a specific educational group. Both highly educated and less educated individuals share this fear, which has surprised Thomas Bredgaard, a professor at Aalborg University and co-author of the study. He told Berlingske that it is a general problem that such a large part of the workforce doubts their future skills.
The survey includes 12,129 respondents aged 18-76 years and also shows that nearly 30 percent of those surveyed are concerned about their general skills. Looking at educational background, ten percent of individuals with a higher education are highly worried about their professional competencies, while the figure among those with shorter or no higher education is 14 percent.
Bredgaard points out that these concerns can be linked to rapid technological development. A recent report from Kraka and Deloitte supports this by concluding that 46 percent of Danish employment can technically be automated using current technology. Automation will particularly impact tasks in office work, customer service, sales, programming, and writing, as well as skills such as memory, numerical ability, and eloquence.
Bredgaard and Sophie Danneris, project manager at TrygFonden, assess that this concern may have a negative effect on employees. The uncertainty surrounding the future labor market and technological development can therefore have far-reaching consequences for the Danish workforce.