SPOTLIGHT: The need for upskilling cannot be overstated
According to the World Economic Forum, 1.1 billion jobs are “liable to be radically transformed by technology in the next decade.”
By some estimates, half the global labor force might need reskilling by 2025.
87% of executives say they are “experiencing skill gaps in the workforce," yet less than 50% have a “clear sense of how to address the problem.”
Over the last ten years, a Master’s in Business Administration was the most conferred Master’s degree, despite the fact that “none of the top projected jobs over the next ten years will require an MBA.”
Meanwhile, it's expected that “50,000 nurse practitioners jobs will be created over the next decade.”
88% of tech employers say it is “challenging to find skilled technology professionals.”
According to a Deloitte survey of more than 9,000 business and HR leaders, 73% agreed that “organizations are responsible for developing their workforce, followed by individuals themselves (54%).”
According to a survey by NTT Data, over 50% of companies have “launched reskilling or upskilling initiatives for new and existing workers.”
57% of companies with upskilling initiatives “rely on internal staff to execute innovation plans,” with 43% using outside experts.
Just 0.5% of global GDP is invested in adult lifelong learning, despite research indicating that “investment in reskilling and upskilling of the current global workforce has the potential to boost GDP by $6.5 trillion by 2030, while investing in future-ready education … of school children could add an addition $2.54 trillion over the same period.”
57% of American workers say they want to “update their skills.”
52% of American workers said they “had participated in an upskilling program in the past 12 months,” according to a 2021 Gallup survey. Black workers, in particular, are participating in upskilling, with one survey finding that 64% say they had done so in the previous 12 months.
The number of registered students for Coursera online classes “rose to 71 million in 2020, up from 44 million in 2019.” In 2021, that number increased to 92 million.
According to Gallup, workers who participate in upskilling “earn on average $8,000 more than their peers who did not.” The same Gallup survey found that 64% of workers who participated in upskilling programs say it “had a positive impact on their standard of living.”
Read more via World Economic Forum, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, SHRM, McKinsey, McKinsey, Bankrate, Gallup, HR Dive, NTT DATA
Amazon: Amazon offers 10 different upskilling programs, including Career Choice, which “pays for educational opportunities, ranging from English as a second language classes to four-year college degrees for 750,000 eligible frontline workers.” In the event workers leave Amazon, the program does not require them to repay the company for the training benefit. Career Choice offers 400 course options across 300 colleges, and has had 130,000 participants thus far. In September 2021, the company pledged to invest $1.2 billion through 2025 in Career Choice and other upskilling efforts. (Fortune, Amazon)
Intuit: Financial software company Intuit is working toward “transforming into a fully A.I.-driven software company.” As part of that transformation, Intuit says it is “doubling down on reskilling workers as the company navigates a tight labor market, a shortage of talent with the necessary skills, and financial constraints brought on by the broader economic climate.” The company has offered online courses as well as in-person boot camps. Intuit also “began offering a seven-month apprenticeship program for nontechnical employees last year, which has proved especially popular among data analysts and project managers who want to transition into engineering roles and obtain hands-on experience.” (Fortune)
US Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) hinted at forthcoming upskilling legislation while speaking at the National Skills Coalition summit earlier this month. Kaine told the audience the legislation will “build on the work put forth by the bipartisan Digital Equity Act," a law which “provides digital upskilling to low-income talent.” Kaine cited the fact that “92% of jobs require digital skills,” and “underscored that this gap affects a wide variety of sectors, citing e-commerce software in the retail businesses, VR software, and healthcare and food-service operation centers.”
“If you can close the digital skills gap in your own foundation — so, industry-specific skills — you will help businesses with turnover and help individual workers achieve greater economic success."
Read more via HR Dive
According to a new report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, “certain degree programs and on-the-job training could open access to high-demand jobs.”
The report identified “ten pathway changes to education, training and work experience" that could have the greatest chance of improving worker development, especially among young adults.
The pathways range from traditional degree programs to on-the-job training and alternative credential programs.
The report looked to “identify life junctures where a strategic intervention could make a difference and increase the likelihood of working in a ‘good job,’" which is defined as a median annual salary of $57,000 at age 30.
The researchers found that the effectiveness of the ten pathway changes varies by race, gender, and class. But nearly every pathway change has the potential to put more men, youth and young adults, and individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in good jobs at age 30.
“Our research clearly indicates that the bachelor’s degree is still the most traveled pathway to a good job. But through this work, we also find there are alternative pathways to good jobs through career and technical education (CTE) and work experience."
Read more via Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
