Global Megatrends Insight Highlights Series | Page 6
3Skills imbalance
Talent scarcity is another clear outcome
of the megatrends, as rapid technological
progress and an ageing workforce combine to
create a substantial skills mismatche.
UNICEF reported that 31% of the 40,000
young people surveyed believed that their
education is not preparing them with the
skills they need to find work. The skills gap
is widening, and universities and schools are
unable to keep up with the pace of change.
As a result, businesses will have to invest
more and more into reskilling and upskilling
of their employees. The switch to a fully
digitised learning landscape has also allowed
employers to scale up their upskilling efforts
in a cost-effective manner through live videos,
social sharing and personalised platforms.
With as many as 375 million employees (14%
of the global workforce) needing to switch
roles by 2030, the need for reskilling is only
going to rise. As automation and robotics
adoption rises, as many as 14% of the global
workforce will need to switch roles by 2030.
The 2020 pandemic has made the need to
address these skills imbalances more urgent.
Across the globe industries had to adapt to
a new way of working, switching millions of
workers to a remote working model almost
overnight in a move that many believed
would cause too much pressure. Roles have
changed, new skills have been identified
and training programmes initiated to ensure
companies can stay afloat, jobs would remain
and the economy weathers the strain of
lockdown.
As we navigate through the new world of
work landscape, it is becoming more apparent
that moving away from a single skill set
workforce towards a multi-skilled workforce
focused on the nurturing of transferable skill
sets will be key to overcome similar disasters
in the future.