Today, traditional approaches to learning and development can’t meet the demands of the modern workforce. And because we are moving from the era of talent abundance to the era of talent scarcity, organizations can’t as readily hire the skills they need, making retaining top talent and empowering employees to develop new skills to thrive a top priority.
The workforce is undergoing a significant transformation characterized by technological advancements, evolving job roles, and shifting employee expectations:
Key Statistics:
- Employers estimate that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years.
- More than a quarter of workers say they plan to change jobs in the next 12 months, with millennials (35%) and Gen Z workers (35%) being the most likely to do so.
- One-third of workers believe their company won’t be viable in 10 years’ time unless it changes course.
- More than half of employees say their jobs require specialist training.
- Companies that excel at internal mobility retain employees twice as long as companies that struggle with it.
Adapting to Change
Change isn’t slowing down and won’t stop. As industries pivot toward the future, continuous and personalized learning will become a core strategic capability. Businesses will need to recruit from a much wider pool of talent, which in turn will create a much larger pool of diverse skills. This means the ability to hyper-target skill gaps will be more critical than ever. And, as business needs and roles continue to evolve, the enterprise needs to anticipate and fill skill gaps as they emerge.
Bringing workers along on the transformation journey is critical not only for employees but also for the enterprise. According to the World Economic Forum, the fastest-growing jobs are those of AI and machine learning specialists, followed closely by sustainability specialists and business intelligence analysts. Most of the roles WEF recognizes as emerging are related to technology.
