This is how we build a future-ready workforce for the post-COVID world – The World Economic Forum
- Cooperation between the public and private sector is necessary to truly drive a global skills revolution.
- Research shows the increasing importance of acquiring technical and scientific skills to move into “opportunity jobs”.
- 4 must-have conditions to address skills gap, including equal access to education, skills training; reliable internet access for all; committed leaders.
COVID-19 has left an indelible mark on lives across the globe – disrupting workplaces, schools, travel, and health and well-being. In the world of business, every industry has been challenged in dramatic and unexpected ways. Today, organizations are striving to better understand COVID-19’s impact on the world, the old assumptions and models that should be shed or updated, and the new paradigms that can help us successfully navigate these changes. This was a central theme I had the privilege of exploring recently with Professor Klaus Schwab, World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman, in a discussion we had at AWS re:Invent.
In that discussion, Professor Schwab noted that we need cooperation between the public and private sector if we are going to truly drive a global skills revolution. He noted, “The world of the future is not the world of capitalism, it’s the world of ‘talentism’.” In other words, capital is being superseded by human talent as the most important factor of production. Meanwhile, COVID-19 is accelerating the adoption of technology. But for organizations to fully benefit from technology, they must support the development of a workforce with digital skills.