PEOPLE & SKILLS
Automation alone is not enough The World Economic Forum’ s Global Lighthouse Network, co-founded with McKinsey, has tracked frontrunners in Fourth Industrial Revolution( 4IR) technology since 2018. Its network has grown to include more than 220 lighthouses across 35 industries.
In September 2025, the WEF introduced an entirely new designation: Talent Lighthouse. It recognises that technology alone cannot sustain 4IR gains without an equivalent transformation in how people are trained, deployed and retained.
Kiva Allgood, Managing Director at the WEF, explains:“ Competitiveness today is no longer defined by efficiency alone, but by the ability to sense, adapt and respond at speed.”
How to approach upskilling Treating upskilling as a core operational strategy could help to navigate these challenges. By identifying the gap between capabilities employees have today and those the business will need as automation scales, training investment can be properly directed and justified.
Manufacturers that integrate workforce development into the technology roadmap from the start, rather than treating it as a downstream concern, may be better positioned to realise the productivity gains they purchased. A Global Lighthouse Network report found that wearables supporting training and upskilling improved overall equipment effectiveness by 53 %, reduced non-value-added tasks by
“ We need to help people understand which skills they need to attain to make sure those jobs endure”
Carolyn Lee, President and Executive Director, Manufacturing Institute
56 % and reduced scrap by 26 % at one site. Upskilling programmes must also confront perceptions of AI. Manufacturers that communicate clearly about how automation will change, rather than eliminate, roles could see better results in attracting and retaining talent. Training programmes could demonstrate this in practice, placing workers alongside new technologies from the outset.
Carolyn Lee, President and Executive Director of the Manufacturing Institute, said in an episode of McKinsey Talks Talent:“ Jobs will change, but workers will remain. We need to help people understand which skills they need to attain to make sure those jobs endure.”
58 April 2026