The Race to Reskill: Why We Need a Global Reskilling Revolution by 2025
During the past two years, we have already seen a huge wave of rapid reskilling, as Covid-19 forced millions of workers to master the digital challenges of remote working. But what does the short term future of work look like? Here’s some insights into could be likely to change in the workforce by 2025.
Edited: 16th January 2023
Thanks to accelerated technological developments and the Covid-19 pandemic, the workforce is automating at a faster rate than ever anticipated
According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, since 2020 the workforce has been automating faster than anticipated. It’s thought that Covid-19 accelerated this and that this is likely to lead to 85 million jobs being displaced. However, 97 million new jobs are expected to be created in technology fields.
We need a global reskilling revolution by 2025
The World Economic Forum have also reported that almost 50% of their workforce will require significant re- and upskilling. By 2025, it’s predicted that analytical thinking, creativity, and flexibility will be among the most desired skills by employers who are looking to hire. However, flexibility will remain just as much as an important requirement when it comes to searching for a new job as hybrid working is here to stay. Although, a key focus will remain on digital and technological skills as the workforce is likely to digitalise and automate further.
By 2030 as many as 375 million workers, which is approximately 14% percent of the global workforce, may need to switch occupational categories, according to a recent McKinsey Global report. As digitisation, automation, and advances in artificial intelligence become major disruptors in the world of work, is it will be necessary that the workforce adapts alongside.
Although many business leaders are gaining awareness of the rapidly growing scale of the task that ahead, this has had yet to translate into much significant action.
The rise of artificial intelligence has been looming for a while, with the latest AI bot, ChatGPT proving to be a huge disruptor for many.
OpenAI introduced the long-form question-answering AI – ChatGPT, which answers complex questions conversationally.
Reaching one million users in just 5 days, it’s become an extremely popular and revolutionary technology because it’s trained to learn what humans mean when they ask a question.
Many users are stunned at its ability to provide human-quality responses, albeit a few misunderstandings and errors here and there. But with ChatGPT using a combination of machine learning algorithms and deep learning techniques, it’s likely to learn from it’s errors and provide more and more accurate responses overtime.
ChatGPT has inspired the feeling that it may eventually have the power to disrupt how humans interact with computers and change how information is retrieved.
We asked ChatGPT What skills are likely to be most in demand for the workforce by 2025? Here’s what it said…
It is difficult to predict with certainty which specific skills will be in high demand by 2025, as the job market and technology are constantly evolving. However, some skills that are likely to be in high demand include:
Technical skills: Technical skills such as data analysis, programming, and cybersecurity will continue to be in high demand as technology continues to advance.
Digital skills: Digital skills such as digital marketing, e-commerce, and web design will be in high demand as more businesses shift towards digital platforms.
Soft skills: Soft skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability will continue to be in high demand as they are essential for success in a rapidly changing job market.
Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence, such as empathy, self-awareness and self-regulation, will be in high demand as the job market is becoming more focused on people and collaboration.
Creativity: Creativity will be in high demand as new technologies and business models drive the need for innovative solutions.
Language skills: Language skills such as bilingualism and multilingualism will continue to be in high demand as businesses expand globally.
It’s important to note that while these skills are likely to be in high demand, the job market and technology are constantly evolving, so staying current on new developments and advancements in skills is key to stay relevant.
How big is the challenge of reskilling and upskilling?
The task confronting every economy, especially in advanced economies, will likely be centred around retraining and redeploying tens of millions of midcareer, middle-age workers. There are only a very small amount of precedents where this has happened before.
Businesses that want to remain competitive will prioritise their focus on preparing the workforce with new skills
The need for workforce innovation, large-scale upskilling, reskilling and re-deployment initiatives provide opportunities for both employees and employers. Businesses have the opportunity to drive the necessary transformation, allowing for increased productivity, profitability as well as contributing to improve the national standard of employability skills. Upskilling and reskilling can help to improve the productivity and profitability of businesses, as well as providing an environment that ensures all workers have the required transferrable employability skills allowing them to be confident and productive within the new world of work.
