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Workers in the Driver’s Seat – Transcript
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- Deni Mashel explains that geopolitical uncertainty, demographic shifts, new shapes of labor employment, and the AI revolution weigh on workers across the world.
- Luke Dion states that trade unions ask for workers to be part of the design process when AI is introduced in a company.
- Roxanna Menzatu announces that the European Commission is preparing the launch of a quality jobs act in December 2026.
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>> Hello and welcome from the World Economic Forum. My name is Mina Ari. I'm the editor-inchief of the National and I'm delighted to be moderating this session. Welcome to everybody with us here in the room and welcome to those of you joining us live online. Uh if you are commenting on the session, please use hashw26.
Um and this conversation, workers in the driver's seat is so important at a time when we have incredible change, economic restructuring, talks of tariffs, visa regulations changing overnight, AI being introduced in the workforce, the amount of uncertainty and unpredictability is incredible. Not only is this about productivity, not only is this about the bottom line, it's about people's lives,
how they find contentment and a sense of purpose through work, which is hugely important. The top risk in the global risk report for 10 years span 2026 to 2036, 67% of respondents in the global risk report survey said social polarization. And often social polarization can come about when people cannot have dignity through the work that earns them a good living. So this
topic is hugely important not only economically, politically, but of course importantly societal. And so I'm really proud as the national to be partnering with the World Economic Forum on this conversation. And we have an amazing panel here to discuss all of these matters. Um, immediately to my left is Depali Goena, who's the CEO and managing director of Wellspun Living. Next to her is Luke Dion, who is general secretary
of the International Trade Union Confederation ITU. And right next to him is Roxanna Menzatu, who is the executive vice president for social rights, skills, and quality jobs and preparedness at the European Commission.
And next to her is Deni Mashel who is CEO of the ADCO group and also a member of the international business council. Um the World Economic Forum has these great communities international business council. I'm proud to be a media leader part of the international media council.
So it's great to to be here. So I want to start with you Deni please. Um when you look at different sectors, different regions, your company works globally. Where are you seeing the greatest pressures now on work forces?
>> Well, actually, if you look at the four big uh trends that are that are impacting the the world of work [clears throat] and you you mentioned some of them, you know, the the geopolitical uncertainty, uh you know, the demographic shifts and aging populations. If you think about uh the new world, new shapes of uh of labor uh employment that are that are coming
in and and the of course the AI revolution all that weighs on the workers across the world and I there's there's no place from what we see we we you know we we work in 60 countries and don't see any place where people are immune from these uh you know big forces that that are happening.
maybe one word around AI because it's this is the thing that is happening probably the fastest and the scale at which it becomes we haven't been used to we humans are not used to exponential we know how to to manage linear progression we're not used to managing you know exponential progression and that's what we are
seeing today and the speed at which um companies need to be agile to manage you know this this big AI revolution and for people also to be agile is this is fundamental and it's it's all about how do we ensure that AI doesn't happen to people
>> that uh that we embark everyone if we want to create to your point if we create if we want to create social cohesion and if we want peaceful societies, we have to ensure social cohesion.
>> I mean, you mentioned this idea of AI not happening to people. So, I want to follow up with you on that because what do you see are the the main issues that businesses underestimate when it comes to workers? I >> think two things. First of all, and we talk about we know we work with 100,000 clients across the world and when we talk to clans, they are a little bit lost in translation where the speed of AI coming in. So they've done a lot of
pilots and stuff but they haven't scaled and in in most cases they haven't embarked their uh their workers into that transformation. Um they've pushed stuff >> right uh a bit sometimes a bit randomly >> uh and and they are not intentional. So the biggest risk is for companies not to
strategize the way the workforce is going to be transformed because we've got to think about you know companies being now a hybrid world where workers work alongside digital workers or a AI agents >> and uh and it's a totally different way of thinking and you and today you know in the world of [clears throat] work humans are messy
I mean we know know that you know it's the or chart doesn't describe how the work is actually done >> right right >> tell that to my a >> if you want to apply AI without without understanding how work is being done people suffer >> and one thing that um that's we discovered we've made a study across uh
you know 20 37,000 workers across more than 30 countries What they're telling us uh is and I know I wonder I have the the number right of workers want to take control of their skills development. So there's an appetite >> for workers to be you know part of the
story. 71% of the workers are telling us that they have that they're the way they train themselves on AI is more advanced that what their employer provides to them.
So I think companies underestimate the appetite. There's a fear but there's also appetite to go with the flow from for many workers. >> And I think it's when AI is positioned as a tool that can make them more efficient rather than replace them that people get most excited about the use of AI in the workforce and and to your point that people then bring solutions rather than being given the solutions.
Luke, I want to turn to you. So I mean we're hearing really the issue of AI being a major issue but geopolitical uncertainty of course is playing out. Um how are you seeing these pressures on the ground playing out on the ground and what's the biggest risk for workers themselves to feel that actually they are just being given AI tools to use or the geopolitical uncertainty is affecting them directly.
>> Well it's not the first time uh good morning. It's not the first time that um workers uh in history are faced with technological evolution. It's just a process that comes back and that returns every 10 20 years. It's the way how we prepare it and how we deal with it. And so for us as trade unions, what is really key is absolutely no opposition against what's going on,
but being part of the process. And what we see too often is that workers feel that they are absolutely not part of the design process in the sector or in the company when AI is introduced. And if you want to take away fear, if you want to create ownership on AI, >> well then you cannot do that by only informing them at the end of the process
what the what AI will mean for them and who will lose its job, who will keep his job, who will have to do more education or skilling to to be to remain in the company. It doesn't work like that.
Nobody in this room or life would accept to be informed uh and not being part of the process when it's about AI or any technical technological evolution. So what we ask first is let us be part of the design process. Make workers part of the process of design in a company also labor units we need to be part of that process. That's one point.
Secondly, sure there is a huge skills agenda, but I challenge companies all the time and I say you know that in five years time the competences that you need in your company will be different with the competences that you have today.
>> Well, what do you do today to prepare your workforce for the competences in five years time? Well, then often it's silent because they don't do it. They wait and then if there is a fallout of workers, they don't see it as their responsibility. They put it on the society, >> right?
>> Well, that's wrong. That's wrong because we cannot mess around with the workforce today in the world because we have in many parts of the world a shortage of labor. >> Every worker is needed in the economy of today. Maybe not in the company of today where you work today. Maybe not in the sector where you work today, but maybe in another sector, maybe in another company. Well, let's prepare workers for whatever job. And then third point I think crucial in this whole debate is
and it's not employability. Employability is important but it's about job security. Job security means that workers get in a in a in a in in a in in a country a kind of a guarantee.