Giving Compass' Take:

• As the workforce becomes more automated, employers are encouraged to implement upskilling opportunities in their companies. 

• What kind of upskilling and supportive training development will be the most useful for the future workforce? How can donors play a role in helping companies provide training to their employees? 

• Read about the importance of upskilling in America. 

A high-tech client of Accenture approached the global management-consulting firm about reskilling its workforce and, within two years’ time, Accenture was able to help transform this company’s curriculum from 100 percent classroom-based learning to 75 percent digitally based. The result? Ellyn Shook, chief leadership and human resources officer at Accenture, says the client saw a 92 percent average increase in the number of people being trained per year.

For companies that want to remain competitive, upskilling (and/or reskilling) should be a No. 1 priority. McKinsey Global Institute predicts that, by 2030, approximately 14 percent of the workforce will have to change careers because of automation and artificial intelligence. That would leave millions of employees in the dust, with limited career options.

Antonis Christidis, a partner at Mercer, says the elimination of jobs isn’t a new phenomenon; however, the pace of digital transformation is something we’ve never experienced before. Looking back to the first Industrial Revolution, many Americans were either working in agriculture or a skilled trade and, as factories started cropping up, there was a demand for unskilled labor.

“What’s happening now, however, is the layer of transactional jobs in the next 15 years will be eliminated—people without relevant skills won’t have an easy transition like in years past,” says Christidis. “If we don’t start upskilling/reskilling now, we run the risk of a big part of society becoming irrelevant.”

Jaime Fall, director of UpSkill America, says that upskilling the current workforce is critical for retention because it’s becoming harder to attract new employees.

To fully prepare for the future, employers must create a culture of learning that fully supports the rise of new skills. There are countless options for doing so, but UpSkill America has identified six models of upskilling: apprenticeships, pre-employment training, high-school completion/equivalency, employee training, certifications and/or college degrees.

Read the full article about upskilling the workforce by Danielle Westermann King at Human Resource Executive ® Magazine