Investing in future learning, reskilling top priority for corporates: Study

At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about major changes in the employment landscape, investing in future learning and reskilling is a top priority for corporates as they are willing to transform the workforce for a new world economy, says a study.

Since the advent of technology and its impact on jobs, skills have been high on the business agenda of executives, and after the coronavirus pandemic, there is an urgent and clear mandate for reskilling.

According to Mercer's 2020 Global Talent Trends Study, 98 per cent of executives plan to redesign their organisations to make them fit for tomorrow. Besides, most companies (85 per cent) expect technological transformation to continue as a primary business disruptor.

 

"In this pandemic, a big trend that came out was that many companies are worried about many aspects of sustainability for the future. Whether it is sustaining the environment or sustaining the different stakeholders of the community," Shanthi Naresh, Career Business Leader, Mercer India said. Naresh further said, "for employees, whether they want to join a new company or stay with the company, two things came up on this count -- job security and development opportunities -- because reskilling is what is going to sustain companies for the future.

How much the companies are going to invest in reskilling of the employees has become a very very core issue, she said.

According to executives, only 60 per cent of the workforce is able to adapt to the new world of work. However, 82 per cent of employees said they are ready to learn new skills.

The report further said investing in future learning and workforce reskilling would deliver the highest Return on Investment (ROI).

"This ROI assumption makes sense, given that 99 per cent of companies are both embarking on a transformation this year and reporting significant skill gaps," the report said.

It further added that there is increasing apprehension around talent migration this year (up from 4 per cent in 2017 to 38 per cent in 2020), skill supply concerns are high on the priority list.

The skills that are the new "currency" for employees are innovation, data visualisation, digital marketing, global mindset and complex problem solving, the report said.