The “New Fit”: Skills and Competencies for The Future of Work

The future of work is an emerging scholarly and managerial domain. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new theoretical model of fit of the human operator to the future of work. The new model (named Skills Fit (S-F) enables managers to properly align their workforce to new work formats. The future of work has entailed massive labor changes. However, the scope and effect of work transformation on employees' fit in the new work context is still unclear. This is an important oversight, given the significance of new skills in the future of human work in smart manufacturing environments. Moreover, while previous research has largely focused on person-job and person-organization fit, it is unclear whether these will remain valid in new work settings. In this paper, we identify contextual characteristics of work that influence the extent to which employees experience a "New Fit" in smart work settings and propose a "Skills Fit" framework. In addition, we describe a fit gap as a manifestation of a managerial gap that organizations must address to dynamically improve their alignment to the future of work.