Happy Friday! We’re bringing you the latest roundup of industry news. This week, we’re looking at Forrester’s new employment forecast, Britain’s run-up to Christmas spending, how LEGO have celebrated its 90th birthday, and new WhatsApp updates.
Key news
- Disney+ has now surpassed Netflix in its subscriber count currently totalling 221.1 million. Netflix stands behind by just less than a million viewers.
- Qualtrics have launched EX25 for Healthcare. This will provide health sectors with key questions for their employees to improve and act based on what their workers voice in this methodology.
- Capita to help military veterans with their digital skill gap, as they are working with workforce tech platform, WithYouWithMe.
- Forsta have announced their acquisition of HelloIgnite. This collaboration will allow companies to share and manage ideas from employees to improve CX.
Forrester’s forecast: 12 million European jobs at risk due to automation
According to the latest ‘Future of Jobs Forecast’, Forrester have predicted great job losses by 2040. The research has predicted that 34% of European jobs are at risk. This comes with 12 million jobs being lost to automation across Europe-5 – France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK.
The jobs most at risk include those in more casual employment. This includes the UK’s zero-hour contracts, part-time jobs on minimal wages, and Germany’s “mini-jobs”.
These job losses will impact the following industries on a larger scale:
- Retail
- Transport
- Accommodation
- Food services
- Leisure
- Hospitality
Europe-5 are also tackling troubles of the working age. By 2050, there will be 30 million fewer people of working age – only increasing the demand for automation to fill these gaps. Mid-skill, routine labour jobs are also most at risk of being overtaken by automation. To combat this, strategies have been put in place to enhance those skills that robots do not have; including resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility.
Europe-5 are also expecting to create 9 million new jobs in green energy and sustainability practices to further combat these issues. This includes employment in clean energy, clean buildings, and smart cities.
The working populations in the five largest economics in Asia Pacific are expected to be at more risk of this than those in Europe and North America.
While automation and AI functions can be seen as a drastic leap forward for society, the consequences for humans, especially when it impacts the workforce, is something that must be considered by those taking charge.
“Many commentators were pondering whether the growth of AI will see the end of the traditional call centre. Over time, it became clear that AI is only one part of delivering service rather than replacing it.”
If you want to learn what automation and rapid development can bring to customer service, check out the interview we held with Capita’s Chief Executive Officer, Aimie Chapple.
Brits have started their Christmas shopping this summer – but on a reduced budget
It has been found that 30% of British citizens have already started their Christmas shopping. This may be to better prepare themselves and get ahead of the game to buy more over the coming months.
This is particularly significant to note this year as wage, inflation, and job issues across the nation mean people are starting as early as they can. Furthermore, the spending budget for these Christmas gifts has been estimated to be slashed in half. This comes with the cost-of-living crisis creating devastating issues up and down the country.
Quantem Metric’s research into this latest news has also found the following new habits consumers will change in the run up to this year’s festivities:
- 80% of shoppers are already planning ahead to the Black Friday sales to get their presents
- Many Brits plan to limit their attendance to social events: 31% will avoid Christmas parties altogether; and 47% will be more selective than previous years about which events they will attend
- 75% of consumers aim to complete most of their shopping online
To tackle this, Zendesk have conjured some ways for companies to support those anxious shoppers. This includes: investing in automation tools to free agent time; use browsing trends to curate relevant flash sales and discounts; updating self-service tools, such as delivery updated and order information; and establishing better empathy and empowerment from agents.
LEGO group celebrates its 90th birthday
On Wednesday August 10th, your favourite brick-toy company turned 90 years old! To celebrate, the company encouraged everyone to just play. They’ve even branded this celebration as ‘World Play Day’. Their website read of a wholesome birthday request:
“For our birthday, we’re getting the world to play. And not just with LEGO bricks, oh no… We’re talking ANY play, of ANY kind, ANYwhere. […] Nowadays, it’s hard to find the time to just stop and play. And that’s a problem. Because play is the best, most fun way to bring us closer to our family and friends. Always has been. Always will be.”
Here are some more ways the company have celebrated:
- Transformed an old playground in West Harlem with the help of artist Hebru Brantley
- Launched exclusive play sets retailing for $54
- Built a 94,000 piece LEGO spinning ‘cake’!
The milestone hit by the household name brand is a huge achievement, especially considering the current world climate. The ways in which LEGO are encouraging everyone to celebrate feels so inclusive and light-hearted, which is something we all definitely need at the minute.
Back in May, we released a podcast episode with Madeline de Nonno – CEO of the Geena Davis Institute. She discussed LEGO stripping back its gendered building blocks. In this, she said something which can be applied to this momentous occasion – “[We] use the make-believe world to influence the real world”.
That is exactly what LEGO are encouraging for their birthday this year. By encouraging play throughout all walks of life. Society still feels to be in such turmoil and isolation. Maybe it is time to release our inner child this week, and just play – have fun and let go.
New WhatsApp privacy features
User privacy is becoming an increasingly discussed issue. To combat this and ensure the safety and comfort of its users, the messenger app has announced new privacy features:
- Ability to leave group chats silently – without notifying other group members
- Control who can see their online status
- Block others from screenshotting their messages with a ‘view once’ feature
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta chief executive (owner of WhatsApp), has said that the aim of this move is to keep its messaging “as private and secure as face-to-face conversations”.
These new implements also aim to empower its users over their own security and control. This gives them the power to decide who has access to information about their activities. WhatsApp are already transparent on their message encryption to protect privacy. Adding these new abilities for its users will not only make it feel safer to use, but perhaps could further boost the amount of people using WhatsApp.
We have tackled the issues of protecting your users’ privacy and data many times at CXM. It is a rising concern for consumers as they have repeatedly insisted that they don’t trust brands. From a previous article, Jeff Epstein put it perfectly:
“Trust is key to building customer loyalty, and companies’ success depends on delivering a customer experience that is efficient and secure”.
Thanks for tuning into CXM’s weekly roundup of industry news. Check back next Friday for the latest updates of the week!