Maybe machines might not take your job but they could decide if you get a promotion

See Walmart Turns to VR to Pick Middle Managers: Retailer using virtual reality headsets to gauge workers’ potential and skill level, help determine promotions and pay cuts by Sarah Nassauer and Chip Cutter of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"When some Walmart Inc. WMT -0.08% store workers want to apply for a higher-paying management role, the company fits them with a $250 virtual reality headset to see if they are the right candidate for the job.

The country’s largest private employer is using a VR skills assessment as part of the selection process to find new middle managers, watching how workers respond in virtual reality to an angry shopper, a messy aisle or an underperforming worker.

VR training is becoming more common in a variety of industries to educate a large number of workers quickly or assess the technical ability of high-skilled workers like electricians or pilots. But Walmart’s use of the technology to gauge a worker’s strengths, weaknesses and potential is significant because it pushes VR evaluation out to a massive hourly workforce and in some cases helps determine who gets raises and who gets demoted."

"Walmart executives hope the technology will limit bias inherent in many traditional hiring decisions, increase diversity and reduce turnover among its 1.5 million U.S. employees"

"Walmart’s use of VR reflects broader efforts by employers to quickly, but fairly gauge workers’ abilities as jobs change due to automation and other factors"

"As Walmart begins to use VR to evaluate workers, it can use the data to identify how certain traits correlate with performance"

"Walmart wanted to understand how candidates respond when they have to prioritize different work or how they communicate with co-workers in times of conflict"

"scores are based on how workers answer questions in VR."

"Strivr and Walmart are moving toward integrating a worker’s body movement and attention data"

"The use of body movement data to predict personality and potential could have pitfalls if workers aren’t given other ways to prove their worth, say some training experts."