FEATUREFutureofwork:DigitalskillsinthefoodindustryIdentifyingthespecificskillsneededmostBarbRenner,KimberlyBetts,JustinCook,andJagadishUpadhyayaADELOITTESERIESONTHEFUTUREOFWORKINTHEFOODINDUSTRY2TECHNOLOGYMAYNOTbetheonlythingunlockingnewpossibilitiesforthefutureofwork,butitisamajordriver.Thefoodindustryhasseenitseffectonworkthroughdeploymentsthatenablenewformsofe-commerce,automatepick-and-packoperations,managesupplychains,forecastproductionneeds,andmore.Intheprocessofdigitaltransformation,theindustryisrearchitectingworktohelpenablehumansandtechnologytocollaboratemorecloselyandeffectively.Asonemightexpect,thisrequiresnewkindsofskills—differentfromtheonestraditionallysoughtbytheindustry.Thisisnowtrueforfrontlineworkersaswellasfortheotheremployeesneededtobuild,implement,andrunthetechnologysystemstransformingtheindustryinthefirstplace.TheshifttodigitalskillsDeloitteandFMI-TheFoodIndustryAssociation(FMI)surveyedmorethan150US-basedexecutivesatconsumerpackagedgoods,foodmanufacturing,andprocessingcompanies,aswellasgrocersandotherfoodretailers.1Outofthe12skilltypesassessed,“digitalskills”wereindicatedtobetheonesmostlikelytoincreaseinvalueoverthenextthreeyears,evenforthenon-managerial,frontlineworkforce.Thiswastrueforproductsuppliers(95%)andfoodretailers(92%)alike.Thisshifttodigitalskillsisalsoreflectedinincreasedjobpostingsrequiringdigitalskills,whichisespeciallyevidentforfoodretailers(figure1).Therapidincreaseinsuchjobpostingsbyfoodretailersthatbeganin2018appearstohavereturnedwithvigorin2021,despiteapauseduringthefirstyearofthepandemic.Digitizationofgrocersandproductsuppliersmeansnewskillsareneededforsuccess.METHODOLOGYThisstudyanalyzesalmostsixyears(2016–2021throughAugust)ofjob-postingsdatafortop50foodretailersandproductsuppliers(byUSrevenue)2foundintheBurningGlassTechnologiesjobpostingdatabase.3Thesecompaniescombinedrepresentapproximately75%ofthetotalworkforceintheUSfoodindustry.Thestudywasalsoinformedbyapproximately20interviewswithretailandconsumerproductsexecutive...
