Dive Brief:
- Most workers in big economies fear their job skills — driven by the fast pace of technological change — will become partially or fully obsolete within this decade, according to a Dec. 9 report from the Global Labor Market Conference.
- The report, based on a survey of 1,000 employed, unemployed or self-employed adults in each of 14 countries, including the U.S., U.K., China, India, Saudia Arabia and South Africa, found that half of the U.S. respondents are concerned about their skills becoming redundant and say that technology is driving their need for upskilling.
- The good news for employers is that employees seem to value self-improvement, the GLMC said in a media release. A large share (44%) of the survey’s respondents feel the responsibility for upskilling falls on them, the research showed.
Dive Insight:
The GLMC report looked at how four major forces affecting the global labor market — globalization, demographic shifts, technological advancements and actions against climate change — are reshaping the essence of work, worker expectations and skills required for career growth and adaptability.
Its findings solidify what experts have been emphasizing: Individuals who focus on continuous learning and skills development put themselves in a more favorable position for employment and are more likely to experience career growth, job satisfaction and financial stability.
Employers are pivotal to this process, the report stressed. That is, by providing training and development opportunities, employers nurture skills integral to organizational success and competitiveness, the GLMC said in its report.
However, while both employers and employees see the need for skills development, continuous upskilling isn’t the norm for most workers, according to a July report from D2L, a learning technology company.
Disruptions due to the increasing adoption of generative AI in the workplace will be most notable in the financial and insurance, professional services and information systems industries, the Society for Human Resource Management and the Burning Glass Institute cautioned in a February report.
Reskilling will become increasingly important as job roles and skill sets transform, the SHRM report noted. For example, traditional customer service roles may pivot to managing chatbots or overseeing automated processes and will require training for current job holders.
But skill enhancement isn’t just “a way to learn new technologies,” the GLMC report emphasized. It’s also “a way of adapting to new ways of working, thinking critically, solving complex problems and operating in social contexts,” the report said.
Worker responses to a Deloitte survey released in October bear this out. The survey found that workers see the need for balance between technical skills and human skills and believe their company focuses more on immediate business needs than on training their teams for long-term success.
“Organizations that overemphasize technical training at the expense of ensuring human capabilities … could end up impeding innovation and leaving employees ill-equipped to lead teams, adapt to market opportunities and fully harness the potential of technology,” a Deloitte executive stated.
GLMC respondents identified three skills they believe are the most crucial competencies for success in current and future labor markets: Cognitive skills, such as critical analysis and problem-solving; management skills, including strategic planning, leadership and cultural awareness; and socio-emotional skills, such as empathy, teamwork and communication.
The GLMC also found that workers feel strongly about having the primary responsibility for their upskilling and training strategies, which may include online platforms, such as “Massive Open Online Courses,” or MOOCs; micro-learning; and gamification.
Employers may also want to consider Personal Learning Accounts, or PLAs, which are financial instruments that can serve as a personal budget and allow individuals to fund their education and learning, the report said.