Tech and generational changes increase urgency of upskilling

From the moment our early ancestors first struck flint together to start a fire, upskilling has been part of the human evolutionary story: new inventions demand mastery; with mastery comes success.

Never has that basic equation proved truer. In today’s increasingly technology-dominated era, the imperative to keep on top of the latest innovations is vital to workers staying ‘future fit’.

The pace of change is rapid. In 2020, the Confederation of British Industry was already predicting that nine in ten UK workers would require upskilling by 2030. The recent revolution in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, machine learning and the like now makes that figure look conservative.

“AI and other technologies are developing so fast and will simply change many aspects of how we all work,” says Roy Jakobs, chief executive of the Dutch medical equipment maker, Philips. “This goes for everyone, from office workers to innovators.”

Failing to keep pace is bad news for business, as well as the individual workers concerned. In North America, alone, companies are set to lose an estimated $5.5tn by 2026 because of IT skills shortages, according to a recent survey by market intelligence company, IDC.

As a tech entrepreneur, Corinne Vigreux, co-founder of the satellite navigation maker TomTom, is acutely aware of the role that upskilling plays in releasing individual talent and keeping businesses competitive.

“At TomTom, our own progress as a modern mapmaker is entirely dependent on proactively upskilling our existing teams to handle the complexities of tomorrow’s technological landscape,” she says.

Demographics are further exacerbating the urgency of upskilling. Millions of older workers are leaving the workforce because of the difficulty of keeping up with technology and changing skills needs — just at a time when people are living longer and, from a macroeconomic viewpoint, needing to retire later.

The same is true for social mobility. About 450mn young people around the world currently lack the basic skills required to find a job, according to the World Bank. As the labour force grows ever more digital, the probability of them remaining “economically disengaged” only mounts.

Arguably, the need for upskilling and the requirement to protect the planet also overlap. The logic is simple: to stave off irreversible climate change, we need to execute a rapid transition to a low-carbon economy; yet success here depends on satisfying the rapidly rising demand for green jobs — which only one in eight workers are currently equipped to do.

But upskilling is not just about tech. Soft skills such as teamwork, creativity, and critical thinking all still count. Ironically, as social media and other technological innovations come to increasingly dominate our lives, so workers’ interpersonal skills are declining.

This problem is particularly acute among young recruits, employers report. As digital natives, those new into the workforce would much rather send an email than pick up the phone, observes Jen Wu, a vice-president of talent at public relations company, Team Lewis.

“These young individuals are great at seamlessly integrating the use of AI, for example, but where they’re really struggling is with in-person events like client meetings and pitches for new business,” she observes.

So, in its onboarding training, as well as running modules on all the latest technical skills, Team Lewis is going “back to the brilliant basics”, with classes in phone etiquette, networking skills, and public speaking.

Another subtle shift in the upskilling market centres around employee demand. In an age of the portfolio career, individuals are no longer relying on a call from human resources to decide their skills training. Instead, they are increasingly taking the initiative to skill up themselves.

But this trend goes beyond just advancing their career, notes Charise Le, chief human resources officer at French automation and software group, Schneider Electric: “More and more, people are interested in learning things that are not directly related to their jobs.”

These changing needs and motivations among employers and employees, demand a fresh look at how upskilling is provided, Le continues. Gone are the days of mass, undifferentiated training; today, it is all about breadth of choice and flexibility of format.

To that end, Schneider has switched the contents of its e-training platform from being mostly created in-house to mostly being bought in, ensuring its employees obtain as wide and most up-to-date selection of upskilling options as possible, she says.

The jobs search market might also need a rethink, suggests Martin Lenz, chief executive of the Austrian job board software company, Jobiqo. He envisions a world where online learning platforms and job advertising sites combine to match skilled workers with employment openings.

“Most people stay in a bubble because they search for what they know,” he says. “But the technology now exists for people to upload their résumés and, in a millisecond, be directed to a range of job openings that meet their specific interests and skills.”