The COVID-19 pandemic upended the global economy, causing a tremendous shift in workforces across the world. Uncertainties in the job market led to retrenchment, hiring freezes and the rise of remote work.
While some of these changes were expected, one unprecedented effect of the pandemic was that workers are now more open to leaving their current jobs.
In Kaspersky’s Securing the Future of Work report, it found that 35 per cent of employees are considering switching to a new career in the next 12 months.
A majority (49 per cent) of them stated that the reason for this decision was to achieve a higher salary, followed by wanting to create a better work-life balance (41 per cent).
Professionals are now viewing their careers in a different light as before, prioritising different things and demanding more from their employers.
Reskilling is a top priority for the digital workforce
It goes without saying that great employees drive great companies, and it is crucial for employers to attract and retain the best talent for business success. This is especially pertinent in a time where digitalisation is at an inflection point and advancing as quickly as three to four years ahead.
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When the pandemic began, one thing was clear: adapt or get left behind. With the global lockdowns and social distancing measures, businesses had to embrace digital models almost overnight to sustain operations. However, companies were simply flying headfirst into their digital transformation journey without regard for having the right capability and infrastructure.
Needless to say, the transition to a largely digital workplace hasn’t been easy.
The e-Conomy SEA 2020 report by Google, Temasek and Bain also named the shortage of workers with the right skills as the top critical blocker in the digital economy.
The innovations in the tech space, paired with the acceleration of digital transformation, has resulted in an intensifying tech talent crunch in the region. Newer technologies meant that newer skills are required to operate and interact with these technologies.
Additionally, border restrictions were limiting the flow of foreign talent, leading to a higher reliance on local talent pools. It is now clear that the demand for digital skills far exceeds supply, signalling a golden opportunity for local talents to undergo reskilling to ride on the wave of digital transformation.
The critical skills in a post-pandemic world
The new dimensions of the workplace mean that talent has to evolve to serve the new definition of workforce needs. It isn’t just the tech professionals who are impacted by the digital shift, digital skills are now integrated into every role. Employees are now expected to take on cross-functional roles to reinvent themselves sustainably.
Also Read: Why there is no better time to upskill than this COVID-19 crisis
As industries manage the post-COVID recovery, it is worth taking a look at new ways to reskill professionals, as well as the critical skills needed in a post-pandemic world. Developing these skills requires more than just watching videos– they require interaction and engagement.
GnowbeLearn, the world’s first subscription-based microlearning platform, has seen an uptick in various microlearning course experiences, including, but not limited to: data science and analytics, entrepreneurship, digital marketing, customer service, personal branding, sales skills, and leadership management.
There is growing interest in the GnowbeLearn experience, which develops skills through reflection, participation, application and engagement, otherwise known as Know-Think-Apply-Share.
Soft skills are also growing in demand. For starters, communication has always been a crucial skill for one to thrive in the workplace. This is especially important during a time of dispersed teams and limited face-to-face interaction.
The lack of constant surveillance from managers also means that it is up to professionals themselves to hone their ability to communicate and collaborate.
Tech plays a key role in enabling teams to collaborate more effectively, which is why learning experience platforms like GnowbeLearn provide a human-centred design to consider the best way possible for professionals to structure communication.
Other skills, such as leadership, aren’t just valuable in the workplace. Especially in a time where professionals are taking charge of their own careers and reskilling initiatives, self-leadership allows workers to self-motivate and be accountable for their own personal development.
Gnowbe has also seen more interest in these topics via the platform as these skills aren’t just simply learnt through videos or academic papers – rather, they are developed through practical application and shared experiences with fellow professionals.
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Despite the urgent need to be equipped with future-ready skills, most L&D programmes tend to follow traditional methods or rely on technologies that aren’t human-centric.
More often than not, many of these programmes do not cater to remote-working professionals and end up being an unfruitful experience. Surely there must be a better way to restructure professional development initiatives to better engage talents and retain new knowledge.
Lack of time and motivation are barriers to learning
With more professionals considering a career change along with an extended job scope, they are looking to embrace new opportunities, and are facing immense competition.
If anything, the past two years have been a wake-up call for professionals to upskill in order to thrive in the new digital world. Yet there’s a multitude of challenges that come with upskilling.
When it comes to upskilling and reskilling, employees only have about 24 minutes each week to dedicate to professional development. Given the hectic modern lifestyle and hybrid work arrangements, it is no longer viable to sit in a physical classroom and go through courses that are a few hours long each week.
To keep up with the modern workforce needs, there must be ways to upskill effectively and at scale– such as through microlearning courses.
Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been an ongoing debate regarding the blurring of lines between professional and personal life. It is common to hear of employees experiencing prolonged fatigue and burnout.
It is therefore important that upskilling is being introduced to employees with minimal disruption to their daily lifestyle to reduce one’s inertia towards learning new skills and improve engagement.
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Learning models must also now take on more effective methods to bridge these gaps. For one thing, learning is always meant to be a shared experience, where adult learners retain knowledge better through social learning, such as through discussions or debates.
Upskilling courses should also cater to remote workers, who now carry the personal responsibility of finding ways to better hone their skills to meet the changing needs of the modern economy.
While it is up to professionals to grow their careers through a repertoire of digitally relevant skills, taking on the mantra of lifelong learning is sure to be worth it in the long term.
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