The Risk Isn't Becoming Obsolete - It's Becoming Under-Capacitated
- Dr. Eric Albertini
- Aug 12
- 4 min read
1. The Rise of FOBO (Fear of Becoming Obsolete)
In today’s fast-evolving workplace, the Fear of Becoming Obsolete (FOBO) has become a pervasive undercurrent. Headlines tout automation and AI as existential threats to human labor.
According to Pew Research, 51% of Americans now worry AI may affect their jobs - a jump from 40% just a few years ago (Pew Research Center, 2024).
In the corporate world, 41% of leaders anticipate workforce reductions due to AI (Washington Post, 2025).
Yet, this fear - often framed in dystopian terms - is misleading. As Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, observes: job losses “are likely only if society fails to continue innovating” (Tom’s Hardware, 2025), reminding us that innovation historically spurs new types of work even amid upheaval.
2. The Myth of Human Irrelevance
Hollywood dramatizes a future where humans vanish in the shadow of machines. History, however, tells a different story. Industrial revolutions often disrupted jobs but also created new roles and industries. Frey and Osborne’s landmark study (2013) clarified that their automation analysis estimated the task-level risk - not inevitable human job extinction.
Similarly, generative AI isn’t erasing entire professions. Brookings researchers estimate that over 30% of all workers could see at least 50% of their job tasks disrupted by AI, but that still leaves ample room for human-led work (Brookings Institution, 2024). A Microsoft–Bing Copilot study reinforces: “no job where AI performs all tasks,” suggesting roles will evolve, not vanish (Investopedia, 2024).
3. The Real Threat: Being Under-Capacitated
Rather than total irrelevance, the urgent risk is being under-capacitated - lacking the right skills for a transformed work landscape.
Globally, 92 million jobs could be displaced by 2030 - but 170 million new roles are expected to emerge (Exploding Topics, 2024). The danger lies not in work disappearing but in individuals not being equipped to fill the new, more complex ones.
In the U.S., 39% fear they won’t receive enough training to use new tech effectively, while 24% worry AI will render them obsolete (Exploding Topics, 2024). Younger workers feel it most keenly - 52% of those aged 18–24 are concerned about AI’s impact on their careers (Exploding Topics, 2024).
4. Why Future-Readiness Is the True Currency
Future-readiness is the antidote to under-capacitation. The Tomorrows Compass framework helps individuals and organizations assess and build the critical competencies needed to thrive amid disruption (Tomorrow’s Compass, 2025).
It’s a mindset shift - from worrying about being replaced to strategically orienting oneself toward continuous learning, adaptability, and enhanced value creation. The World Economic Forum (2025) underscores this: technology will displace work, but also create 11 million job roles, highlighting the opportunity in transformation.
5. The 12 Skills of Tomorrows Compass as Antidotes to Under-Capacitation
Tomorrows Compass groups its 12 critical future-fit skills into three clusters:
a) Dynamic Adaptability
Skills: Enquiring Mind, Capability-Building Mindset, Embracing Uncertainty, Paradoxical Thinking.These allow workers to remain curious, unafraid of change, and capable of re-skilling as tasks evolve.
b) Strategic Problem Solving
Skills: Contextual Intelligence, Purposeful Focus, Design Thinking, Resourcefulness.These help people make sense of change, identify leverage points, and craft solutions under ambiguity.
c) Agile Collaboration
Skills: Change Agility, Cross-Cultural Collaboration, Relational Influence, Digital Teamwork.These human-centric capabilities enable effective distributed, diverse, and tech-enabled teamwork.
Together, these skills form a personal and organizational compass - not for where we’ve been, but for where human performance must head.
6. The Emotional Side of Capability Gaps
Feeling under-prepared is emotionally taxing. Anxiety, impostor syndrome, and demotivation often stem from perceiving others as more future-ready.
In a PwC-sponsored survey, 39% of workers worried they wouldn’t get adequate training on new technologies - all while 52% felt anxious about AI’s effects (PwC, 2024; Exploding Topics, 2024).
The emotional consequences matter: disengagement, stress, and burnout follow, undermining both wellbeing and performance.
7. Organisational Responsibility in Closing the Gap
Organizations cannot outsource future-readiness solely to individuals. They must shift from “talent acquisition” to “talent re-invention” (Draup, 2024).
Practical steps include:
Embedding Tomorrows Compass or similar frameworks in L&D, talent reviews, and learning pathways (Tomorrow’s Compass, 2025).
Mapping current vs. future skills needs and emphasizing adaptive learning (Draup, 2024).
Rewarding adaptability, learning behavior, and collaborative innovation.
8. Personal Agency in the Future of Work
Individuals can’t wait for organizations alone to act. Key steps include:
Self-assessment via the Tomorrows Compass 15-minute survey to identify strengths and gaps (Tomorrow’s Compass, 2025).
Targeted upskilling: choose learning paths that build the 12 competencies.
Network building: seek mentors and communities that exemplify adaptability.
Digital fluency: practice using AI, remote collaboration tools, and design thinking.
Growth mindset: see FOBO not as existential threat, but as fuel to develop (Draup, 2024).
9. Case Studies & Scenarios
Scenario 1: The Under-Capacitated Analyst – Emma’s reporting tasks were automated. By learning design thinking, she pivoted to delivering strategic insights, making herself indispensable.
Scenario 2: The Unprepared Graduate – James entered the workforce with strong technical skills but lacked collaboration and adaptability. When his team went remote, he struggled, eventually disengaging.
10. The Call to Action: From FOBO to Future-Fit
Fear of obsolescence is both real and exaggerated. The deeper issue lies in under-capacitation, not the end of human relevance. With the right frameworks, behaviors, and supports, individuals and organizations can thrive amid transformation.
Start today:
For organizations: adopt a skills-first strategy and embed future-readiness into talent systems.
Reframe FOBO as a signal for growth - not a verdict.
