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.