This content originally appeared on Economist Impact and was produced by EI Studios, a division of Economist Impact.
Process industries have reached a critical point. Mass retirements, an impending labor shortage, geopolitical strain and economic turmoil threaten business stability and resilience. With $280 billion in revenue at stake for every 1% rise in job vacancies, business leaders face a stark choice—adapt their operations or fall behind. The answer may lie in the industry’s most critical and adaptable resource: its people.
To protect continuity and ensure growth, process industries would be wise to improve the employee experience, fill critical gaps in knowledge, and make the workplace safer. AI has the potential to achieve all three. Here’s what business leaders can do.
The Talent Cliff Threatens Company Operations and Future Growth
Companies in process industries––metals and mining, chemicals, building materials, forestry, paper and packaging, agriculture, and the like––are struggling to hire the talent they need, especially young workers, and particularly in remote locations where talent pools are smaller and skills underdeveloped. As recruiting strategies catch up, leaders can deploy AI to supercharge the efficiency and productivity of their current workforce.
“Talent pools are not easily accessible or readily available. To continue fulfilling their ambitions, they need to figure out a way to increase the productivity of the existing employees as well as everyone that joins,” explains Vlad Lukić, the global leader for BCG’s tech and digital advantage practice.
Tammi Jones, chief human resources officer at global aluminum producer Alcoa, believes the industry must confront a critical reality: the future workforce will not mirror the past. “It’s not that I’m worried,” she explains, “but I am convinced that we won’t have access to the same number of workers with the requisite skills and experience in the way that we did in the past.”
Jones emphasizes that it’s up to industry leaders to rethink how opportunities are structured. “We must reimagine the types of roles we offer—how we tap into diverse talent pools and how we leverage technology to meet evolving needs. The traditional approaches simply won’t be enough.”
Tammi Jones, Chief Human Resources Officer, Alcoa
Attract New Talent By Operationalizing AI
Lukić notes that AI is already an attractor for young, forward-thinking talent. They ask candidly about it in interviews, probing for whether they will get the chance to use the newest and best technologies—rather than just being handed a mandate to incorporate ill-fitting AI tools into tedious tasks.
A study conducted by BCG in conjunction with MIT found that in companies leaning into AI use, 79% of teams using AI reported improved morale. Although the researchers expected employees at AI-forward companies to disengage, worried that their jobs were at risk, the opposite was true. Employees instead felt part of a dynamic, future-oriented company that equipped them with the latest tools and skills. And there is evidence this engagement gain is translating into measurable productivity improvements. US Bureau of Labor Statistics data show a 6% increase in process industry productivity over the past two decades, driven in part by AI and other digital tools. Lukić has observed productivity double in some job categories among his clients.
Use AI to Make the Workplace Safer
Among the top reasons young process industry workers cite for leaving their company is the need for safe and well-managed working conditions. Health and safety concerns can be addressed, at scale, through the latest in AI-powered data collection and monitoring. Simultaneously, businesses can reduce risk while raising productivity.
A global mining company, in conjunction with BCG, implemented a computer vision system to monitor the work area for potential dangers—indicated by shaking or movement in the computer-captured image, for instance. The company was able to create 24/7 oversight of mines without requiring continuous onsite staffing, and operating hours increased by 7%-15%. “We can pick up on the patterns that something is off, and we can engage them directly to make sure we prevent an accident,” Lukić notes.
Vlad Lukic, Managing Director and Senior Partner, BCG
Employ AI to Preserve Institutional Knowledge
Process industries fall in the 80th percentile for workforce age, with a median worker age approaching 50 (compared with the early 40s across other industries). Facing a wave of retirements, a semiconductor company worked with Lukić to capture critical institutional knowledge and reduce training time for new hires. The company found that senior engineers working on decades-old machinery do so intuitively, skillfully attuned to small changes in sound or feeling. Rather than training new hires on outdated manuals, the firm used AI to develop virtual reality training modules based on deep institutional knowledge and expertise. As a result, the time to train new engineers decreased by 20%-30%, while overall productivity increased by 30%-50%.
“Capturing knowledge into AI workflows and into the AI brain is a very big pain point and a big opportunity,” Lukić points out. “When done well, you can increase the speed at which new engineers are ramped up. And when you deploy engineers in the field, you can pair them much more effectively to the specific machines and decrease time on task.”
Businesses should focus on using tech to solve problems they already have, rather than choosing AI tools and looking for places to implement them. — Vlad Lukić
At Alcoa, the approaching wave of retirements is a concern. Each retirement represents nearly three decades of experience exiting the organization, says Jones. As a result, the firm has invested in knowledge management, doubled down on best practice sharing and improved succession planning, with a focus on critical roles.
The firm has also introduced AI and virtual reality into training programs to make learning more engaging, relevant, and effective. “We’re moving beyond traditional methods to empower leaders and upskill our workforce,” explains Jones. “By leveraging AI and automation, Alcoa is further ensuring safety. And while enhancing job performance and employee experience, it’s also proactively mitigating operational risks.”
A Future-proofed Workforce Begins Here
Companies that want to prepare their workforces for an uncertain future should get started sooner rather than later. “Businesses may try to aim for the perfect solution, but getting started and building a muscle to deploy something quickly, learn from the interaction with it, and then refine it is a really hard muscle to build,” explains Lukić.
He also calls on business leaders to solve problems they already have, rather than chasing new tech for tech’s sake. Many companies will identify a set of AI tools to deploy, then go looking for places to implement it. They end up “solving” problems that never existed, wasting valuable time and resources.
The talent cliff threatens company operations, present and future, but it does not determine the outcome. It is business leaders who will do that—and the potential for success is great.
