Microsoft just released its Work Trend Index Report for 2024 which surveyed over 31,000 people in 31 countries about the future of work.

How well we work impacts how we far grow and succeed in our careers, so today’s blog post will highlight my top 3 takeaways for those of you who are job hunting or looking to advance in your careers.

66% of leaders say they would not hire someone without AI skills

What does this mean for you? You don’t necessarily need to go back to school, but you should definitely become AI literate if you want to stand out in this competitive job market.

For the first time, LinkedIn is offering at least 50 premium AI courses for free so you can take advantage of them without having to upgrade to LinkedIn Premium:

Building AI Literacy

Applying Generative AI as a Creative Professional

Applying Generative AI as a Business Professional

Develop Your Skills with the OpenAI API

Advance Your Skills in Deep Learning and Neural Networks

Develop Your AI Skills as a Cybersecurity Professional

50% of people worry that using AI on important work tasks makes them look replaceable

Back when I was a student, I had a C-Suite executive mentor who told me that no matter how experienced, skilled, or high up the corporate ladder you are — everyone is replaceable. 

But not everyone is relevant.

To be relevant, you need to be resourceful and know how to leverage what’s around you to get results. 

Instead of worrying about being replaced by AI or another person, think about whether your time and energy is relevant and relative to your impact to the business.

Your time and energy are unique and valuable, so you don’t want to waste it doing something that could easily be automated by AI or done by another person anyways… because that’s just wasting your potential.

Remember that you are hired to add unique value — not regular, replaceable value — so if you can use AI or Copilot to update an Excel document or draft a social post, then you are freeing up valuable time to work on higher impact activities or pursue personal projects that are more meaningful to you. 

People always ask me how I have the time to get involved in so many different initiatives around Microsoft. It’s because I use different tools to optimize my work so that I can still get the job done properly AND still have time left over to pursue my passions like leading the Asians in Marketing Career Development committee or running career workshops with thousands of interns and professionals around the world!

So, don’t worry about being replaceable. Focus on being relevant. And to be relevant, you need to be resourceful. Lucky for us, AI is a great resource if you know how to use it properly! 

Over 90% of Power Users — people who are familiar with AI and use it several times a week to save more than 30 mins a day — say that AI makes their overwhelming workload more manageable, helps them feel more motivated and enjoy their work more! 

Creating opportunities to show up as our best selves at work is possible when we know how to use AI safely and securely in the workplace.

For example, I personally use Copilot in my Edge browser to help me with simple tasks like summarizing a web page or answering questions in the same window, so I don’t have to switch to a different tab every time I need to search something up.

These are little things that save you a few minutes here and there — but they will add up over time! Before you know it, you’ll be getting a lot more done, but not feeling the burnout. 

TLDR:

• 66% of leaders say they would not hire someone without AI skills so this is your call to become AI literate and take advantage of the AI courses that are now free on LinkedIn! 
• 50% of people worry that using AI on important work tasks makes them look replaceable but remember that you actually shouldn’t worry about being replaceable… you should focus on being relevant and resourceful.
• If you know how to be resourceful with AI tools, then you save time and energy which helps prevent burnout and make your work much more impactful and enjoyable. 

Please check out aka.ms/WTI24 for a lot more interesting stats and insights in the full Work Trend Index Report.

If you’re curious about AI or any other job hunting and career topics, you can submit your questions anonymously to me at bit.ly/ask-kkaren!