These three mutually reinforcing strategies could help bridge the skills gap.
Senior Director at Wiley, leading his company’s Education business in Asia.
In Persian, این نیز بگذرد means “this too shall pass.” To emerge stronger from this crisis, we must all look beyond the immediate challenges and plan for the longer term, even as we continue our collective efforts to battle the pandemic. Education and training, skills and jobs are interrelated but distinct issues. Education and training seek to prepare learners for job opportunities, while providing people with skill sets to strengthen the economy and create new jobs. Jobs, on the other hand, are demand-driven and responsive to global macroeconomic trends and market needs.
Many things may have changed this year due to the pandemic, but the global trends impacting future-ready talent remain unchanged. I believe movement restrictions are accelerating the structural shifts that already existed before Covid-19. They include accelerating digital trajectories with large-scale support for digital transformation at the institutional and national levels, widening skills gaps due to rapid technological change and short innovation cycles, and a greater emphasis on soft skills. In fact, even before this pandemic took place, the World Economic Forum said in its 2018 “Future of Jobs Report” (download required) that, between 2018 and 2022, the skills required to perform most jobs will have shifted significantly by an average of 42%. This shift will likely only accelerate.
As an employee at Wiley, which recently acquired a company that hires, trains, places and manages technology talent, my goal is to help the company bridge the widening skills gap, thereby providing everyone with the opportunities to develop their fullest potential in life, and provide employers access to the skills they need to stay innovative and competitive. In this article, I’ll suggest three mutually reinforcing strategies that could help bridge the skills gap. My aim is to contribute to the global debate on the skills gap.
First, strengthen the bridge between demand for and supply of skills. Employers can build up long-term partnerships with students who will eventually become their human capital.
