PwC’s Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2024 - African Perspectives

The rapidly evolving workplace scenario requires strong leadership intervention globally and across Africa, specifically. Leaders must guide their workforce through the transformation journey, help them understand the purpose of change and empower them to anticipate and implement change. 

This year’s key findings: 

• Change is everywhere and employees are feeling it. It is reported that 66% of the African workforce are excited about recent changes and the potential positive impact on their organisation’s future. At the same time, workers also report increased workloads, uncertainty about financial security and pervasive financial struggles.

• Widespread use of GenAI in the workplace hasn’t yet caught on, with only 244 out of 2,000 employees reporting using GenAI tools in their daily work. 

• 56% of workers prioritise opportunities to acquire new skills when deciding to stay with or leave their employer—reflecting a shift towards a skills-centric paradigm where skills are the currency of the future.

Leaders should maintain a clear long-term direction, as 66% of African workers believe in their organisation’s goals and are excited about recent changes. Leaders must harness this positive energy while managing the fatigue and stress from constant disruption. Leaders must also prioritise care and resilience in a workforce burdened by increased workloads and job security concerns. They should engage employees regarding ongoing changes, provide reassurance and opportunities for upskilling as the need for green skills and AI skills becomes increasingly important.

The adoption of GenAI within the African workspace is still limited, with 30% of workers reporting to have never used GenAI tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E for work in the past 12 months. As GenAI reshapes the job market, workers must develop new skills to stay relevant. This requires organisations to foster trust in AI and encourage its use to close the knowledge gap.

Positive sentiment prevails, with many employees being confident that GenAI will help them optimise time and manage tasks better.

A shift towards prioritising skills is reshaping employee expectations. Fifty-five percent of African workers base their decision to stay with a company on the opportunity to learn new skills. As the job market evolves, businesses are moving away from traditional roles and are embracing skills as they key to future success. The PwC Annual Global CEO Survey indicates that 45% of CEOs in sub-Saharan Africa and 52% of CEOs worldwide are anticipating that labour and skills shortages will have a significant impact on their profitability in the next decade. It is essential for organisations to not just nurture current skills but also cultivate working environments where new and future skills can be built to drive business goals and transformation.

All eyes are on leaders as the workforce demands more collaboration, direction, upskilling opportunities, effective ways of working and prioritisation of wellbeing. This may necessitate a more adaptive and transformative leadership style to thrive in a future world of work.