Virtual Career Fairs getting specialized

It feels to me that the labor market and the skills landscape are changing faster than we anticipated, with the number of stories are trends emerging in 2021.  Paul Graham, the startup genius who funded Airbnb, Dropbox, and several other companies, said this in a high school speech a few years back:

“ It might seem that nothing would be easier than deciding what you like, but it turns out to be hard, because it is hard to get an accurate picture of most of the jobs , most of the work I have done in the last ten years did not exist when I was in high school.”

This is such a powerful quote, not just for the high school students but also for HR trying to figure out skills and competencies that are relevant.  Contrary to the conventional wisdom of doing long-range planning in Strategic Workforce Planning, the goal should be to have flexible job architectures and processes to adapt rapidly.

The year 2021 is generating some fascinating stories already when it comes to the labor and skills market. The first shipment of the Mac Pro computers built at the Northwest Austin facility were shipped out in December 2020.  This is a significant milestone for the company and, more importantly, to Skills evolution and automation at work.

Let us look at a few stories