Dig.ni.fy Winter Issue - January 2024 | Page 102

utilize AI and big data ranks third among company skills-training priorities in the next five years and will be prioritized by 42 percent of surveyed companies.

•The skills that companies report to be increasing in importance the fastest are not

always reflected in corporate upskilling strategies. Beyond the top-ranked cognitive skills are two skills which companies prioritize much more highly than would appear according to their current importance to their workforce: AI and big data as well as leadership and social influence.

•Respondents express confidence in developing their existing workforce, however, they are less optimistic regarding the outlook for talent availability in the next five years. Accordingly, organizations identify skills gaps and an inability to attract talent as the key barriers preventing industry transformation.

•Surveyed companies report that investing in learning and on-the-job training and automating processes are the most common workforce strategies which will be adopted to deliver their organizations’ business goals. Four in five respondents expect to implement these strategies in the next five years.

•Most companies will prioritize women (79 percent), youth under 25 (68 percent) and those with disabilities (51 percent) as part of their DEI programmes. A minority will prioritize those from a disadvantaged religious, ethnic or racial background (39 percent), workers over age 55

(36 percent), those who identify as LGBTQI+ (35%) and those from a low-income background (33 percent).

•Forty-five percent of businesses see funding for skills training as an effective intervention available to governments seeking to connect talent to employment. Funding for skills training ranks ahead of flexibility on hiring and firing practices (33%), tax and other incentives for companies to improve wages (33 percent), improvements to school systems (31%) and changes to immigration laws on foreign talent

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The Long and Short of It: Colleges and Universities Must Adapt

Data suggests colleges and universities around the world are not adequately preparing students for the future. A recent study by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), titled “Reimagining our futures together: a new social contract for education,” was two years in the making. Over that time, researchers engaged “around one million people, invited governments, institutions, organizations and citizens around the world to forge a new social contract for education that [would] help us build peaceful, just, and sustainable futures for all.” The study found that income inequality, climate change, technology, demographic shifts, access to education, and structural changes in labor markets will significantly influence education; and that to ensure students are prepared, colleges and universities must rethink and revision education itself. Part of this rethinking and revisioning includes understanding that “skills developed today are unlikely to align with those demanded by the jobs of tomorrow and many will become obsolete.” As a result, education and training systems must increase the support available to those directly experiencing labour market

transitions."

What this means is that the ‘learning must be relevant to the world of work.’ For example, “one of the best strategies to prepare for green

Higher education must change not only to remain relevant, but to best serve the students in their charge by providing them with both a “quality” education as well as the “skills” required to compete in the 21st century.

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