What is upskilling and reskilling?
Upskilling and retraining are related but not the same thing. Upskilling can be compared to updating skills, and it refers to jobs that are still developing and require continuous training. For example, in times of COVID, someone working in industrial cleaning may need to upskill and learn additional information about medical-level cleanliness. Reskilling refers to retraining for a new job without taking into account existing knowledge and qualifications. Upskilling and reskilling rely on the desire for continuous learning and improvement.
According to experts, in the current period of intensive digitization, those skills that we traditionally call soft skills are increasingly popular. These people skills can be the art of leadership, persuasion, or negotiation. As organizations today rely more and more on technology and automation, which adequately replaces labor-intensive jobs, people are increasingly needed for strategic management, which, precisely because of the advancement of technology, requires more and more training and learning. In general, regardless of the existing level of skills, everyone can profit from additional training or retraining according to market needs. At the same time, technology is one of the biggest and most important factors of change, which will continue to drastically accelerate even after the pandemic in almost all economic areas, according to a recent report by the World Economic Forum.
Technology adoption patterns vary by industry, with different technology areas showing greater emergence in the fields where they are most relevant. For example, artificial intelligence is finding the widest adoption among digital information and communications, financial services, healthcare, and transportation. The Internet of Things (IoT) and non-humanoid robotics are also strongly adopted in mining and metallurgy, while public sector industries show a particular focus on encryption and coding.
Companies expect workforce restructuring in response to new technologies, which will require upskilling and retraining, as well as hiring independent contractors for specialized jobs. New technologies will drive future growth in all industries, as well as increase demand for new job roles and skill sets.
Over the next five years, 85 million jobs could be displaced or replaced by a shift in the division of labor between humans and machines, while 97 million new job roles more suited to the new division of labor between humans, machines, and algorithms are expected to emerge in more than 15 industries and 26 farms. The fastest-growing positions include roles such as data analysts, artificial intelligence specialists, robotics engineers, software and application developers, and digital transformation specialists.
As technology adoption accelerates, so will the role of leadership. Human leadership is essential for overseeing management, counseling, decision-making, reasoning, communication, and interaction. Ultimately, technology can augment but not replace people, and leadership must learn to embrace these new boundaries and divisions.
Reskilling and upskilling will benefit less attractive or discriminated work groups as a universal means of achieving inclusion and competitiveness in the labor market. Many companies as well as public institutions invite minorities or women for additional education in order to meet the market's increased demand for experts related to the fields of technology and its applications.
