{"id":5624,"date":"2019-11-07T22:40:08","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T22:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T04:54:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T04:54:46","slug":"how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future","status":"publish","type":"rbc_tl","link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/","title":{"rendered":"How Women Will Thrive in a More Automated Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" height=\"200px\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https:\/\/player.simplecast.com\/a3c42ad5-d88a-47da-8d31-5f8189efdcb5?dark=false\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Listen on <a href=\"https:\/\/link.chtbl.com\/WqJxzQiQ?sid=article_page\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/link.chtbl.com\/4Os8MeK3?sid=article_page\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Google Podcasts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/link.chtbl.com\/QVwVVwQ1?sid=article_page\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Spotify<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/link.chtbl.com\/Gdvm1L5x?sid=article_page\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Simplecast<\/a><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>The challenge is deepest amongst front-line employees \u2013 think of retail servers or call-centre operators \u2013 and the majority of those workers are women. According to a global survey by Ipsos, 54% of front-line employees are going to need some form of significant reskilling by 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the challenges, there is also an opportunity. With the right kind of training and reskilling, millions of Canadians could move to new and better jobs as machines take on more mundane and repetitive tasks.<\/p>\n<p>At our most recent RBC Disruptors, we sat down with Carol Leaman, CEO of Waterloo-based Axonify, a micro-learning company on a mission to revolutionize the way companies retrain their front-line workers, to talk about how the disruption of learning can turn the age of automation into a positive force, and how women are set up to thrive in an automated future:<\/p>\n<h4>By Drawing on Skills They Already Possess<\/h4>\n<p>In conversations about the future of work, two words are heard often: perseverance and resilience. These are qualities that Leaman learned on the job as a 26-year-old accountant, working for a difficult boss, who one day looked at her and said, \u201cWe need $40 million, go find it.&#8221; She was terrified but stepped up and did it. \u201cHe taught me that you can do anything, you just need to decide that you can do anything.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While Leaman recognizes that women tend to be in positions that are more susceptible to automation, women have these and other attributes that position them well to move into jobs that are growing in demand. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/11\/Advantagewomen_2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" ga-on=\"click\" ga-event-category=\"Enterprise Diversity\" ga-event-action=\"mid-funnel click\" ga-event-label=\"Advantagewomen PDF\">RBC research<\/a> found that 54% of the jobs at greatest risk of automation are held by women, but that women are better equipped with the generalist, digital and social skills that will be in high demand for the jobs of tomorrow. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWomen tend to have the foundational skills that we need to move into new jobs and new sectors. We are under greater threat, but in a better position for future mobility,&#8221; says Leaman. <\/p>\n<p>Case in point, women are creating businesses at an unprecedented pace. \u201cWomen are extremely resourceful. I think as the workplace shifts, you&#8217;re going to see organizations take more action to support women in different career streams.&#8221; <\/p>\n<h4>By Learning New Skills \u2013 and Learning Them in New Ways<\/h4>\n<p>The impact of automation will be greatest among front-line workers \u2013 such as servers, retailers and customer service representatives \u2013 the majority of whom are women. To survive the displacement that will come about as automation gains a foothold in the services sector, significant reskilling will be required.<\/p>\n<p>Leaman thinks micro-learning is the future of workplace reskilling. Platforms like Axonify&#8217;s offer bite-sized learning moments to individuals in those front-line jobs that enables them to learn and acquire new skills, while still performing at their jobs. <\/p>\n<p>Axonify has taken that to the next level by working with a neuroscientist to develop an adaptive algorithm based on brain science. \u201cBecause of the amount of data we now collect, which is about 50 million data points a month across the globe, we can apply machine learning to that data, and extract provable correlations,&#8221; she says, such as how certain training leads to growth and revenue outcomes. <\/p>\n<h4>By Changing up the Look of Leadership<\/h4>\n<p>So how do you ensure your workforce is equipped for change? Encouraging female leadership is a good place to start. Female leaders, who are living, breathing and understanding the skills needed to succeed in the workplace of the future, are well equipped to navigate the evolution.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, in new research from Plan International, only 10% of Canadian youth aged 14 to 24 picture a woman when they think of a CEO.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the reason is that there are not enough successful role models, who reach the upper echelons of the corporate world, who have profile,&#8221; says Leaman. <\/p>\n<p>More women in leadership roles will attract other women, acting as role models for the younger generation entering the workforce. <\/p>\n<p>As a veteran leader, disruptor and innovator in the tech world, Carol Leaman gets it. Selected as one of the Best Workplaces for Women in Canada, Axonify has a strongly female leadership and women make up 45% of its employees, including product leaders, sales professionals and software developers \u2013 male-dominated cohorts in most tech firms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think women are attracted to working with large numbers of other women because they see the possibilities.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>For more research on how women are ready for work in an automated future, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/11\/Advantagewomen_2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" ga-on=\"click\" ga-event-category=\"Enterprise Diversity\" ga-event-action=\"mid-funnel click\" ga-event-label=\"Advantagewomen PDF\">download our report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>To learn more about the future of work, and the ways micro learning and inclusion play a role, listen to our latest <a href=\"https:\/\/rbc-disruptors.simplecast.com\/episodes\/the-skills-shift\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">podcast episode<\/a>, recorded live at RBC Disruptors.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At RBC Disruptors, we talked about how the disruption of learning can turn the age of automation into a positive force.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":5625,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"disable_focal_point":true,"featured_image_focal_point":{"x":0.5,"y":0.5},"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":""},"rbc_tl_category":[109,100,110,122],"rbc_tl_tag":[107,108,114,105,103],"class_list":["post-5624","rbc_tl","type-rbc_tl","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rbc_tl_category-disruptors","rbc_tl_category-innovation","rbc_tl_category-season-one","rbc_tl_category-skills","rbc_tl_tag-artificial-intelligence","rbc_tl_tag-diversity","rbc_tl_tag-hiring","rbc_tl_tag-skills","rbc_tl_tag-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.7 (Yoast SEO v26.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How Women Will Thrive in a More Automated Future - RBC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"54% of jobs held by women are at greatest risk of automation, but women are better equipped with the skills that will be in demand for the future of work.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Women Will Thrive in a More Automated Future\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"54% of jobs held by women are at greatest risk of automation, but women are better equipped with the skills that will be in demand for the future of work.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RBC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-26T04:54:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1680\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/\",\"name\":\"How Women Will Thrive in a More Automated Future - RBC\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-07T22:40:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-26T04:54:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"54% of jobs held by women are at greatest risk of automation, but women are better equipped with the skills that will be in demand for the future of work.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80\",\"width\":3480,\"height\":1680},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Women Will Thrive in a More Automated Future - RBC","description":"54% of jobs held by women are at greatest risk of automation, but women are better equipped with the skills that will be in demand for the future of work.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Women Will Thrive in a More Automated Future","og_description":"54% of jobs held by women are at greatest risk of automation, but women are better equipped with the skills that will be in demand for the future of work.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/","og_site_name":"RBC","article_modified_time":"2025-03-26T04:54:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3480,"height":1680,"url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/","name":"How Women Will Thrive in a More Automated Future - RBC","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80","datePublished":"2019-11-07T22:40:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-26T04:54:46+00:00","description":"54% of jobs held by women are at greatest risk of automation, but women are better equipped with the skills that will be in demand for the future of work.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80","width":3480,"height":1680},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/","name":"RBC","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"How Women Will Thrive in a More Automated Future","url":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80&w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80"},"articleSection":"Uncategorized","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"John Stackhouse"}],"creator":["John Stackhouse"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"RBC","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2019-11-07T22:40:08Z","datePublished":"2019-11-07T22:40:08Z","dateModified":"2025-03-26T04:54:46Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"How Women Will Thrive in a More Automated Future\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/thought-leadership\\\/disruptors\\\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/thought-leadership\\\/disruptors\\\/how-women-will-thrive-in-a-more-automated-future\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80&w=150&h=150&crop=1\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rbc.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/03\\\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80\"},\"articleSection\":\"Uncategorized\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"John Stackhouse\"}],\"creator\":[\"John Stackhouse\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"RBC\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[],\"dateCreated\":\"2019-11-07T22:40:08Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-07T22:40:08Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-26T04:54:46Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rbc.com\/p.js"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/03\/Banner-wide-17.jpg?quality=80&w=1024","coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/author\/johnstackhouse\/","display_name":"John Stackhouse"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 6 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on November 7, 2019","modified":"Updated on March 26, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on November 7, 2019 10:40 pm","modified":"Updated on March 26, 2025 4:54 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","tax_additional":{"rbc_tl_category":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/disruptors\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Disruptors<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/innovation\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Innovation<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/season-one\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Season One<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/thought-leadership\/skills\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Skills<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Disruptors<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Innovation<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Season One<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Skills<\/span>"],"slug":"rbc_tl_category","name":"Categories"},"rbc_tl_tag":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/artificial-intelligence\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Artificial Intelligence<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/diversity\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Diversity<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/hiring\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Hiring<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/skills\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Skills<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/topics\/technology\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Technology<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Artificial Intelligence<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Diversity<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Hiring<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Skills<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Technology<\/span>"],"slug":"rbc_tl_tag","name":"Tags"}},"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl\/5624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rbc_tl"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl\/5624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rbc_tl_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl_category?post=5624"},{"taxonomy":"rbc_tl_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rbc.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rbc_tl_tag?post=5624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}