Remote work and human capital: new challenges and threats (international experience)
Authors: Burov Oleksandr 
Published: June 2021

Keywords: human capital, remote work, cybersecurity, workforce, digital economics

The article considers the role of human capital in the transitionto the remote work. The analysis of world changes in the field of safe and effectiveuse of digital business environment and qualification of workforce in the conditions ofgrowth of remote work is carried out. The analysis was conducted in the following areas:general features of the digitalizing in crisis and innovation, a new paradigm of business«Data is the new gold», the organization of the workforce in the transition to teleworking,the priorities of today's professions, the problems of cybersecurity in teleworking.

It has been articulated that the main requirements for the today’s workforce are intellectualand creative abilities, competence in the field of creation and use of ICT, bigdata (data science, data mining, data analytics) and artificial intelligence, the role ofwhich has grown even more due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The human component ofintellectual capital (in the form of knowledge, skills and competencies, as well as intellectualand creative abilities) is gaining new importance in the digital economy.The analysis of relationship of the crisis and innovation made on the basis of the ClarivateDerwent report has demonstrated the impact of the pandemic on the global lifecycle of research and innovation projects in the first half of 2020, namely that COVID-19violated innovation strategy of the innovative leaders worldwide. The analysis hasdemonstrated: in the new conditions of accelerated digitalization, ingenuity and speed ofdecision-making and innovation are needed more than ever. These priorities will affectthe world economy in the coming year.Special attention in analysis has been paid to the new business paradigm related touse and role of data. It was highlighted that digitization generates vast amounts of datathat offer many opportunities for business, human well-being, and the environment. As aresult, new capabilities and opportunities arise for business with the ecosystem of cooperationand partnership, as well as collaboration of stakeholders.The core of changes in digitalization is reskilling and upskilling of the workforce accountingnew workplaces and new requirements for them. It is recognized that talentmanagement and creative people selection can be the main engine in future transformationof economics, and workforce becomes an effective pole for investments. At the sametime, it is argued that remote worker is outside the scope of corporate protection, and virtuallyany production information, like human capital, becomes much more vulnerablein such conditions and requires appropriate cybersecurity methods.As a conclusion, it is articulated that the ability of companies to use big data is beginningto play a significant role in the economy, which in turn requires the involvementand training of data processing and analysis specialists. The direction of professions thatis being actively formed recently — data science — is one of the most priority in the labormarket. At the same time, the labor market needs skills and abilities in the field of interpersonalcommunication (soft skills), which are able to ensure the effective operation ofpeople and systems of hybrid intelligence «human-artificial intelligence».For the further research it has been recommended a comprehensive study of protectionof objects and subjects of intellectual property in open networks.