The Future of Work in the Digital Transformation – Agility, Lifelong Learning and the Role of Employers and Works Councils in Changing Times

The digital transformation will result in fundamental changes to work and organisational processes within companies. These changes must be shaped in a way that benefits businesses and employees in equal measure. The HR-Kreis (HR Working Group) – a forum for Human Resources Directors and academic experts created in 2014 by acatech and the Jacobs Foundation – identified three aspects that are critical to this goal: organisational agility, a wider understanding of lifelong learning and the innovation-oriented development of company-level co-determination.

In this acatech DISCUSSION, the HR Working Group sets out the key challenges in these three areas and formulates proposals as to how corporate policy, statutory regulations and co-determination procedures can be developed in order to achieve a successful transformation. The observations in this report are based on the belief that employees should have their own individual say in shaping the digital transformation. This will require a new form of governance that promotes a willingness to embrace change and creates the freedom to experiment.