Over 50% of AI talents want to leave?
In recent years, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has led to a surge in global demand for AI talents. However, as demand rises, many companies are facing a thorny question: Why is it so difficult to retain top AI talent?
Aaron De Smet and Brooke Weddle, talent leaders at McKinsey & Company, and Lucia Rahilly, global editorial director, pointed out in a podcast discussion that more than 50% of AI talents have a tendency to leave, and the reason behind this is not entirely due to salary issues. , but because they are disappointed with the company's internal system and believe that the existing corporate culture and processes cannot keep up with the pace of AI or new era industries.
The composition of a new generation of artificial intelligence talents
The core issue to be discussed first is that so-called "AI talents" are not all technical experts as we imagine. According to McKinsey's questionnaire survey, the new generation of AI talents can actually be divided into four types.
Among them, only 12% of the respondents regard themselves as professional AI technical employees. They are mainly responsible for developing the next generation of AI platforms, programs and software, while the remaining 88% do not regard themselves as technical experts and prefer to "use These people widely apply generative AI technology in fields such as marketing, sales, and customer service, and more often use AI to assist with daily and mundane tasks, such as customer service chatbots.
Although generative AI technology is advancing rapidly and brings a lot of productivity improvement opportunities to enterprises, the loss of technical talent has left many companies struggling. So why do these AI talents, known as “creators” or “users”, choose to leave?
What do employees value?
According to McKinsey’s analysis, high salaries alone can no longer retain these new generations of AI talents.
Aaron De Smet emphasized that although the influence of salary is important, its role is binary. Once the company's salary meets the minimum needs of employees, additional salary increases will not significantly increase their willingness to stay.
On the contrary, the new generation of employees values flexibility, meaningful work, good relationships with colleagues, and the company's emphasis on employee health and well-being.
Research shows that new-age talents want to be in a supportive environment. When they begin to "break away" from the emotional connection with the company, their workload and efficiency will also decrease. Many leading companies have already Recognize that increasing productivity alone is not enough; it must also be accompanied by an understanding of employees' individual needs.
At the same time, the company's "culture and environment" are both important. Aaron De Smet pointed out that whether it is a system issue, a boss issue or a working environment issue, if the reason for employee resignation is related to "systemic issues that are difficult to change" within the company If relevant, then newly hired talents may also face the same problem, causing real talents to stay short.
Flexibility and autonomy
Flexibility plays a very important role in this issue. The new generation of AI talents want to be able to control their work schedule, not just whether they have to work in the office, but whether they can adjust their schedule according to their needs.
Aaron De Smet pointed out that many companies tend to fall into a misunderstanding - equating "hard work" with "overtime". However, today when generative AI can greatly improve work efficiency, the standard for measuring productivity must be redefined.
For example, performance management in the past relied on quantitative indicators such as hours worked and lines of code written. But now, AI can complete a large amount of work in a few seconds, so these traditional indicators are no longer applicable. Instead, companies should focus more on the quality and effectiveness of their work.
Take music creation as an example. If a songwriter can write a popular song in one hour, and this song is far more valuable than a song that took hundreds of hours to write but no one cares about, then How should the so-called working hours be defined?
McKinsey believes that future performance management should focus on work quality and efficiency, rather than pure quantity and time spent.
Challenges of the established corporate system
However, many companies still insist on using outdated evaluation systems. For example, if an AI worker completes tasks quickly and leaves work early, he may be regarded as "lazy" or "paycheck thief". Such labels and distrust, Add to that the pressure to constantly report on their progress, and it’s easy for real talent to leave.
In the end, most of the people left behind are people who do not pay attention to work efficiency and can gain favor by just hanging out in the company and building a good relationship with their bosses. This not only causes harm to the company invisibly, but also easily makes them lose their jobs. The fast-moving project became stagnant.
This situation is naturally not limited to the AI industry. Research has found that many "new startups" actually have the same problem. Experts point out that high salaries are naturally part of the key to retaining talents in the new era, but whether they can provide a A work environment where employees feel valued, supported, and meaningful is equally important.
If the company you run belongs to a new industry, but you find that it has stagnated, you might as well think about what the problem is and what changes can be made.
Experts believe that with the popularization of AI technology, companies need a more flexible and inclusive way to redefine performance and productivity. Only companies that can take the lead in adapting to this change will stand out in future competition. If they continue to stick to the rules and let things go, The existing system and environment harm talents and virtually destroy the possibility of success.
