From the moment our early ancestors first struck flint together to start a fire, upskilling has been part of the human evolutionary story: new inventions demand mastery; with mastery comes success.
Never has that basic equation proved truer. In today’s increasingly technology-dominated era, the imperative to keep on top of the latest innovations is vital to workers staying ‘future fit’.
The pace of change is rapid. In 2020, the Confederation of British Industry was already predicting that nine in ten UK workers would require upskilling by 2030. The recent revolution in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, machine learning and the like now makes that figure look conservative.
“AI and other technologies are developing so fast and will simply change many aspects of how we all work,” says Roy Jakobs, chief executive of the Dutch medical equipment maker, Philips. “This goes for everyone, from office workers to innovators.”
Failing to keep pace is bad news for business, as well as the individual workers concerned. In North America, alone, companies are set to lose an estimated $5.5tn by 2026 because of IT skills shortages, according to a recent survey by market intelligence company, IDC.
Read the entire article here: https://www.ft.com/content/c8d27903-119b-4456-9694-8781fd6fe46f
