Upskilling essential in the future of work Image Courtesy

The digital disruption together with globalization and demographic change has brought about the need for upskilling or reskilling for the workforce to be well equipped for the future of jobs.

According to the 2020 PriceWaterhouseCooper report Upskilling: Building Confidence in an Uncertain World: Seventy-four percent of CEOs are concerned about the availability of key skills. The report also cited the need for organizations to focus on providing a pathway for employees to learn new skills and career growth, saying it can boost engagement and retention.

Upskilling is the process of acquiring advanced skills through additional education and training to help bridge skills gaps for the future of jobs.

How Important is Upskilling?

According to the World Economic Forum’s Up Skilling for Shared Prosperity Report 2021, while there are job opportunities and millions of people looking for employment; the job seekers don’t have the skills and experience required for the available jobs—especially roles requiring new and advanced skills.

“Half of all employees around the world need to upskill or reskill by 2025 to embrace new responsibilities driven by automation and new technologies,” the report by WEF says.

The report further warns that if the current pace of workforce upskilling is not accelerated, it could take decades for today’s employees to be ready for the future of work.

“Governments, businesses and educational institutions are not currently helping people acquire the skills they need to succeed. Millions of people are already being left behind because of volatile market conditions, the effects of COVID-19, or because they work in industries that are being replaced by new sectors”.

The World Economic Forum estimates that if the skills gaps are closed by 2030, the economic impact will translate to an additional $5 trillion to the global GDP by 2030.

“These economic gains would take the form of skill enhancement, leading to the improved matching of people’s skills with the jobs created by the Fourth Industrial Revolution – boosting global productivity by 3%, on average, by 2030,” the report says.

Inequalities

The Up Skilling for Shared Prosperity Report further says that shrinking the gap between skills and job opportunities “could also help countries with high levels of inequality see the quality of the jobs created increase, as the scope to shift from low-cost labour to technology-augmented jobs is greater. This, coupled with upskilling people, could help improve wages and livelihoods”.

5.3 million new jobs by 2030

Upskilling is also projected to increase employment by country, 2030. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2020, employers expect that, by 2025, the percentage of jobs that are no longer relevant or could be replaced by automation will decline from 15.4% of the global workforce to 9%, and that currently, emerging professions will grow from 7.8% to 13.5% of the total employee base over the same period.