The skills gap is becoming an abyss.

You probably don’t need to be told that the robots are coming because they're already here and they're here to stay. Artificial Intelligence and automation are already part of our everyday lives. They're the new mobile, the new default.

As a result of the fourth industrial revolution, jobs in the workplace are being transformed, and COVID-19 has only accelerated this. According to the World Economic Forum, and this was back in January 2020 before the pandemic hit, 42% of the core skills required to perform existing jobs were expected to change in by 2022.

According to OECD estimates, more than 1 billion jobs, almost one-third of all jobs worldwide, are likely to be transformed by technology by 2030. Moreover, the Geneva-based World Economic Forum reports that more than half of all employees will need re-skilling and up-skilling.

In short, the skills gap has become an abyss. We're facing a re-skilling emergency here. What does that mean? Well first of all, what you learned at school will no longer get you through your career.  Life-long learning has become an imperative, whether or not your company provides opportunities for this.  

"The average lifespan of a skill is just three to five years and shrinking fast. No one is immune to this, not even you."

It also means that organizations are competing for a smaller and smaller pool of talent. So even if your company has the hiring budget, you might not find people to fill those critical skills gaps.

That's why it's time to break the vicious cycle of hire, fire, and hire because one, it's extremely expensive, two, candidates to fill key roles simply might not be available, or they won't want to work for you, and three, your company culture will suffer.

Knowledge of your products, services, and processes is also lost when your employees turnover every few years.

So no matter how you look at it, upskilling and workplace learning are no longer nice to have, they're a must-have, and we've got to get it right.

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