Google Health‘s recent announcement that its AI system was just as good, if not slightly better at diagnosing breast cancer than radiologists, has once again resurfaced the issue of automation vs. skilled workforce. While the implications are still uncertain, various industry analysts do see such AI-powered solutions disrupting traditional workforces in ways we have not seen before.
COVID-19 has only accelerated the adoption of such disruptive solutions.
By the end of 2020, automation and COVID will have affected 8.7 million jobs in the US alone.
Another, even more concerning report states that by 2030, roughly 14% of the global workforce may need to switch occupational categories as digital transformation, automation & advances in AI wreak disruption across the value chain.
This means that a not-so-significant portion of the workforce is now reeling under the effects of unemployment.
Reskill Like Your Life Depends On It
Given how well society adapted to the changing demands of the first industrial revolution and every subsequent one after, one would imagine that modern enterprises are ready to tackle the challenge head–on.
However, our research indicates this to be far from the actual case.
A recent Global Talent Trends study states that an urgent and clear mandate for reskilling is required across domains to solve this issue.
Another case highlighting the importance of reskilling is a recent report from industry-leading LMS provider TalentLMS, which shows that;
- 42% of companies stepped up their upskilling/reskilling efforts after the coronavirus outbreak.
- 42% of employees have pursued training on their own after the coronavirus outbreak.
- 68% of companies invest in reskilling/upskilling training to handle changes within the organization, and another 65% to train employees on new technologies.
- 50% of employers target both hard and soft skills through their upskilling/reskilling initiative.
By 2026, at least 54% of all employees across industries will require significant re- and upskilling.
Of these, about 33% are expected to require additional training of up to 6 months, ~10% will require reskilling anywhere between 6 to 12 months, while another 10% will require additional skills training of more than a year.
Reskilling is still a challenge among modern enterprises. This, despite the fact that reskilling is one of the biggest opportunities for a business keep its workforce future–ready.
From opening the doors to a vast pool of veteran talent, to meeting the demands of a new technology paradigm at scale, reskilling has time and again proven to be an asset to meeting talent gaps.
Case Studies Prove That No Other Strategy Is A Match, ROI-Wise
Look no further than the significant number of US veterans who have established long, fruitful careers post their deployments to gauge the success of reskilling. In some cases, they have often undergone a complete lateral shift into a whole new industry and successfully reskilled themselves.
The same global talent trends report quoted above also notes that companies investing heavily into their up/reskilling programs can expect to reap ROI in the millions.
In addition to cutting costs, re/upskilling imparts employees with motivation and loyalty towards their company. When organizations prioritize actively investing in their employees‘ learning and development, their levels of retention, employee satisfaction, and productivity rise.
Despite this, studies have noted that re/upskilling initiatives have not exactly panned out as planned in many cases. This is an active area of research for Draup as we are continuously engaged in delivering actionable talent insights to our clients.
After analyzing this issue, our analysts realized that while decision-makers across the board agree on the importance of reskilling, there was hardly any coherent strategy in place when it comes to implementing said reskilling strategies.
What are the pre-requisites to be taken care of before implementing reskilling?
Why are some common reskilling pitfalls enterprises can avoid with just a bit of research?
Post-COVID, what will be the state of affairs concerning talent strategies?
These and more pertinent questions will drive the keynote address by Vijay Swaminathan, CEO, Draup, on Reskilling for Relevance at the latest edition of the Zinnov Confluence. He will share rich insights on how companies need to rethink talent strategies to help redefine and reimagine companies‘ business outcomes.
The latest edition of Zinnov Confluence – Confluence Europe – has the overarching theme ‘Engineering A Post-Pandemic World‘ and is being hosted on the 9th of December from 2:00 PM CET onwards.
