Labour: Rethinking Capacity Building In AI Age
There is a widening gap that presents an opportunity to redirect investments in critical skills for long-term success. This is particularly necessary in the face of rapid technological advancement and accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence in workspaces, GLORIA NWAFOR reports.
CALLS for upskilling are not new, but they are becoming more urgent. The skills gap is widening. More than half of today’s workforce requires skill adaptation, job change, training and retraining to stay relevant.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) projected that 59 per cent of the global workforce will need to upskill by 2030. It added that by 2030, businesses will prioritise employees who bring innovation, agility and tech-savviness to the table.
This is just as a report by Lightcast stated that 32 per cent of the skills required for the average job changed between 2021 and 2024.
Findings showed that despite growing awareness, participation in skill development is limited, as there is a compelling business case for improving employee development.
Based on meta-analytic findings, Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace projected that organisations could realise an 18 per cent increase in profit and a 14 per cent increase in productivity by doubling the proportion of employees who feel that they have opportunities at work to learn and grow.
It explained that there is a need to embed upskilling opportunities into employment settings.
Organisations, it said, often focus on traditional in-house training when designing employee upskilling or learning and development.
Experts have said that upskilling is not optional anymore but a key to thriving in the job market of tomorrow.
They argued that by staying informed and proactive, HR could continue to build resilient, future-ready teams that thrive in an ever-changing world of work.
For instance, professionals in the construction sector are embracing digital tools like building information modelling (BIM) to stay competitive, while finance experts are diving into AI-driven compliance and regulatory tech.
Legal professionals are adapting to automation in contract management, and engineers are increasingly required to integrate sustainability into their designs.
These changes, experts said, are not just trends; they are a complete redefinition of how industries operate.
Findings indicated that today’s workers commonly look outside of these offerings to leverage learning experiences valuable to their current or future roles.
Further findings showed that the majority identified leadership and management skills, as well as technical and digital skills, as the most important skills organisations needed to develop the most.
While employees viewed the need for upskilling, they said leadership and technical skills are among the most cited as beneficial for career development, behind only role-specific training.
The report stated that 58 per cent of employees’ report seeking at least one learning and development experience within the past year beyond training that their employer formally offered, indicating that many turn elsewhere when internal options fall short.
The most common experiences included external courses on technical skills (18 per cent), certification programmes (15 per cent), professional conferences (14 per cent), continuing education (13 per cent) and engaging with a mentor or coach (13 per cent).
It said employers can expand employee development beyond internal training, as several organisations are leveraging learning outside of formal training programmes to help address critical skill gaps and guide employees toward learning.
It stated that effective upskilling means building a broader ecosystem that connects learning to business outcomes, career mobility and employee purpose.
Noting that there is a business case for getting development right, the report stated that companies that innovatively embed development into their HR practices set themselves up to accomplish their long-term performance goals.
According to it, organisations will likely need to expand traditional training frameworks to create a work environment where individuals have abundant learning and growth opportunities that drive business success.
The Executive Director of EGO Foundation, Toluwase Olaniyan, said the future belongs to those who have upskilled themselves to build, especially in a world where industries are rapidly evolving.
Stating that traditional job roles are being reshaped, he added that vocational skilling offers a gateway to opportunity, especially for youth and underserved communities.
He noted that the reality of today’s global economy rewards individuals who possess market-relevant skills across key sectors such as technology, agriculture, manufacturing, or creative industries, adding that the demand for skilled labour was soaring.
“It is time to identify your blind spots. Maybe it is technical skills like AI and data analysis, or maybe it is soft skills like adaptability and resilience. Whatever the gap, bridging it now could be the difference between a thriving career and a stagnant one. Upskilling is not just a survival tactic—it is a ticket to your future success. The job market is transforming, but that transformation brings opportunity,” he said.
The Senior Policy Adviser (Skills) at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Lizzie Crowley, said there is a growing recognition that essential skills are vital, with transferable skills such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving that all workers need in modern workplaces.
According to her, these tools are fundamental to people working together effectively, as well as to how they engage with customers and other external stakeholders.
Crowley stressed that the economic prosperity of a country depends on how many people are at work and how productive they are in the workplace.
She maintained that better use of skills available in the workforce, alongside increased investment in skills and training, has been shown to improve productivity.
She held that growth in productivity and prosperity builds the conditions for improvements in real earnings, creating a ‘virtuous’ cycle.
For organisations, she said, skills are vital to meeting both current and future business demands.
To be successful and competitive, she noted that businesses must ensure their talent management and succession planning take into consideration what skills need to be sourced, nurtured, developed and retained to create a successful and productive workforce of the future.
(The Guardian)
