The future of work: How to future-proof the skills in your organisation
According to the World Economic Forum (2023a), 75% of organisations are unprepared for the rapid changes impacting their industries. The complex interplay of technological advancements, demographic shifts, and the urgent need to address climate change, makes it increasingly challenging for organisations to keep pace.
To survive and thrive in this environment, organisations need a workforce that is skilled, agile, and capable of dealing with continuous change. In this paper, we delve deeper into the trends shaping the future of work, identify the critical skills needed for the future, and explore how reskilling and upskilling efforts can be supported by a culture of continuous learning. We also highlight the strategic role that Learning and Development teams can play in driving the cultural change necessary for continuous learning.
GRIST recently published a whitepaper on Future skills titled “The future of work: How to future-proof the skills in your organisation”. The following is an excerpt from it. If you would like to read the full paper you can download it here.
The future of work: drivers
Research shows that three trends stand out when looking at the current drivers of change; these will have the biggest impact on the skills we will need in the future:
Automation and AI
Demographic changes
Environmental changes and the net zero transformation
With demographic changes, ageing population will be one of the biggest challenges in Australia (Treasury, 2023). It is estimated that by 2062-63, the ratio of working-age people to those over 65 will fall from 3.8:1 to 2.6:1. Population growth will potentially be slower; predicted at 1.1%, instead of 1.3% estimate made by the Treasury in 2021.
When you combine these trends, organisations are facing a smaller workforce who will need to be highly skilled, agile and able to deal with continuous change.
Finally, the effects of climate change and the net zero transformation is also expected to significantly affect the future of work. On one hand, the net zero transformation will increase the demand for workers in the green energy sector, with jobs ranging from designing and developing infrastructure to training and policy making (Jobs and Skills Australia, 2023) On the other hand, the rising temperature levels will affect working conditions of some occupations and, therefore, recruitment of workers (Treasury, 2023).
The future of work: skills
Demographic and climate changes, as well as increasing adoption of automation and AI, will increase the demand for the following groups of skills:
Health and care skills
Data and digital skills
Higher-order cognitive skills
Social and emotional skills
Sustainability/ green skills
HEALTH AND CARE SKILLS
The increasing proportion of people over 65 and slower rate of population growth will increase the need for workers with caring skills (National Skills Commission, 2022). These skills include providing health care, administering medical treatment, assisting and supporting clients, among others.
The research suggests that health and care will see the largest increase in the weekly hours than any other skill family.
DATA AND DIGITAL SKILLS
Logically, data and digital skills are, and will be, highly sought after. Randstad Sourceright (2023), a global HR services company, identified artificial intelligence/automation and cloud computing in the top 3 in-demand skill clusters. A similar finding was reported by the National Skills Commission (2022), placing data and digital skills in the top 2 fastest-growing emerging skills. These skills are now in demand across diverse industries, extending beyond the technology sector.
McKinsey (2024), a global management consulting firm, estimated that an increased need for technological skills will not be limited to advanced IT skills. They anticipate that people will be spending, on average, 63% more time using basic digital skills in 2030 than they were in 2022. For example, their report suggests that workers in the retail industry and public sector will be spending anywhere between 25% to 75% more time using basic digital skills in 2030 than in 2022.
HIGHER-ORDER COGNITIVE SKILLS
In addition to digital skills, there will be an increased need for higher-order cognitive skills, such as analytical and creative thinking (World Economic Forum, 2023b). Analytical thinking is the skill that helps us process and break down complex information to understand a problem and devise appropriate solutions.
Creative thinking is our ability to create unique and innovative solutions and solve problems that are not clearly defined. This ability will be essential in helping organisations adapt to the novel challenges arising from the combined force of of technological, demographic and environmental changes.
SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL SKILLS
A substantial growth is expected in social and emotional skills that, among others, include leadership skills and social influence, empathy and communication skills. McKinsey (2024) estimated that Australians will spend 33% more hours using their interpersonal and emotional skills in 2030 than they did in 2022. They also predicted a 25% increase in time spent using leadership skills. A similar prediction was made by Randstad (2023) that placed empathy and leadership skills in the top five most important core skills.
Not only are these skills important for most occupations, they are also integral for professions with the highest expected growth, including health care, STEM and professional services.
SUSTAINABILITY/GREEN SKILLS
Climate change and the net zero transformation have dramatically increased the need for green skills.
These skills are an umbrella term for knowledge, abilities, values and attributes required to transition to a greener economy, These include engineering and technical skills, science skills, operation management and monitoring skills (UN, Industrial Development Organisation, 2021).
The increased need for these skills will affect existing occupations as well as create demand for new occupations. World Economic Forum (2023b) projected that sustainability specialists, i.e., people responsible for addressing organisation’s sustainability challenges, from waste management to sustainable procurement plans, will be among the top two fastest growing occupations between 2023 and 2027.
