Lifelong Learning Strategies for Future Work Parallel to The Global Skill Trends & Trainings

 

“Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. It is important for an individual's competitiveness and employability, but also enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development”

This blog seems at how significant trends – digital transformation, globalization and changing demographics – are shaping demand for skills through job creation and destruction, and the changing nature of occupations. existing industry. It examines how resulting changes in skills demand have translated into skills mismatches and examines how lifelong learning (LLL) systems and strategies can be improved to increase engagement. involvement of individuals and employers in education and training.

The world of work is undergoing major changes

The world of work is undergoing rapid and deep changes brought about by technological development, demographics, globalization and climate change. These trends are affecting the composition of employment, the nature of the tasks carried out at work and the skills required in the labour market. They are also putting enormous pressure on traditional education and training systems, calling for improved quality and new approaches to lifelong learning. Skills development can help turn these challenges into opportunities. Skills contribute to productivity increases and are instrumental in enabling people to benefit from new job opportunities. At the same time, lifelong learning and active labour market programmes (ALMPs) along with social protection measures are important “buffers” to help workers manage transitions between jobs and enterprises adjust to change while avoiding high social costs.

Job creation and destruction and changing skills demand 

Figure 01

Job creation and destruction are natural components of a dynamic economy, reflecting shifts in industries, technological advancements, and consumer preferences. New jobs emerge as innovative sectors evolve, while traditional roles may decline or disappear. This process is driven by automation, globalization, and disruptive technologies, resulting in changing skills demands. As a result, workers need to continuously adapt and acquire new skills to remain competitive in the job market, fostering the need for lifelong learning and upskilling initiatives. Policymakers and businesses must collaborate to facilitate smooth transitions, offering training and support to help individuals navigate these shifts effectively.

        Figure 02 - Percentage of jobs at high risk of automation and at risk of significant change

However, these numbers refer to jobs that could be automated, rather than jobs that will be automated: technological adoption depends on economic, legal, ethical and social considerations, as well as on the availability of the skills needed to work with the new technologies.

Technological change also brings about new opportunities for employment (Nübler, 2022). Digital technologies contribute to workers’ productivity and, at the same time, technological progress is creating many new jobs – either directly (for example big data analyst, cloud service specialists or digital marketing specialists) or indirectly through its effect on consumer demand (by lowering prices of goods and services, and increasing their quality). In addition, the same process innovations that displace workers in the user industries create demand for workers in the producer industries (Nübler, 2022. For instance, while the new learning machines may destroy some jobs in manufacturing, they will need be developed, designed, built, maintained and repaired. They will require software and the development of algorithms, and are likely to generate new jobs and occupations in R&D and capital industries (Nübler, 2016).

Skills challenge ? 

The job creation and destruction dynamics described above suggest large-scale changes in the nature of work. This puts a premium on a set of meta-skills, such as agility, flexibility, grit, and learning how to learn. (MGI, 2017). Along with technical skills, core skills, such as problem solving, team work, leadership, initiative etc., become an employment security mechanism that allows smooth transitions between jobs, occupations and sectors. The OECD Skills Outlook 2017 highlights the growing importance of skill mixes, in the context of the transition to a digital world of work (OECD, 2017b). The right skill mix would include strong general cognitive skills, like literacy and numeracy, which can provide a solid foundation to pursue lifelong learning. It also includes basic ICT skills, analytical skills and a range of complementary skills like creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Interpersonal and communication skills, as well as emotional skills like self-awareness and the ability to manage stress and change, are also increasingly important. actions in R&D and capital industries (Nübler, 2022).

 Rethinking lifelong learning for the future of work !!!

 

Older Workers

Regardless of the differences in content, quality and amount of training offered to older people across different employment sectors, older workers are less likely to have access to skills development than younger workers and are less likely to engage with learning if the opportunities are available to them (Meyers et al., 2010). This is the case because either the returns are too low given their remaining working careers or because the type of training delivery (e.g. in a classroom) is not attractive (OECD 2006). Ensuring the participation of mature age workers in training may be best addressed by continuing to provide them with opportunities for rich work and further development to sustain their capacities and interest in contributing to their work and workplaces as well as ensuring that they have good training opportunities earlier on in their careers. (Dymock et al., 2012)

Youth

The ILO’s 2017 youth and future of work survey found that young workers are aware of the need for training as jobs change due to the impact of technology (ILO, 2017). However as much of the responsibility for equipping youth with relevant skills lies with national education and training systems, these systems will need to strengthen the programmes and services offered to ensure that initial education and training provides relevant and high quality skills to smooth the school to work transition of young people. This engagement should also be broadened to offer interdisciplinary training that allows students to develop core work skills and knowledge through experiential learning, such as through quality apprenticeships and other forms of work-based learning. Programmes will increasingly need to cover a range of subjects beyond narrow occupational classifications to deliver more fluid trans-disciplinary skill sets such as those defined as 21st-century skills (Brewer and Comyn, 2015). However, research by the ILO and UNESCO suggest that many TVET and skills systems may not as yet sufficiently support the development of these generic or so-called ’soft skills’ (UNESCO, 2015; ILO, 2015). This reinforces the need to ensure that initial education and training for young people delivers relevant skills to a high standard.

The employment outcomes and earnings of young people can also be improved through ALMPs and social protection measures, with support of employment services, through skills training and entrepreneurship promotion as well as subsidized employment, including public employment programmes and wage subsidies. Different ALMPs can be combined to address diverse labor market disadvantages for young men and women and are increasingly being used to promote the formalization of employment amongst youth (ILO, 2017).

Quality assurance, monitoring and evaluation of LLL

Monitoring and evaluation play an essential role in improving the quality of learning, not only from the perspective of providers but also for learners. However, while most countries devote a significant budget to programmes that encourage training participation, very few monitor outcomes, let alone carry out any sound evaluation of their cost-effectiveness. This is particularly the case with adult learning. Funds collected through levy systems (e.g. Fondi Interprofessionali in Italy) or provided through individual training accounts (e.g. Compte Personnel de Formation in France) are often used to provide compulsory training such as health and safety courses for employees. This can be considered a potential dead-weight loss as this type of training could have been provided anyway by law.

Another challenge is the weak link between monitoring and evaluation outcomes and policy review. In Brazil for example, the PRONATEC programme – an inter-Ministerial programme for the provision of short training courses that are meant to respond to labour market needs – collects data on participant outcomes but the information is not used to feed back into the system and improve it. All programmes facilitating the participation in adult learning should be the subject of systematic evaluations, followed by the relevant programme improvements.

As the provision of training for adults in most countries typically involves a large number of providers and courses, a system of quality assurance is also essential to guide user choice and reward providers that meet quality standards. A recent project co-funded by the European Commission - Financing Adult Learning in Europe, – identifies several indicators to assess the performance of the adult learning system and individual providers, including:

Efficiency: cost per learning hour

Effectiveness: returns on investment (employability and wages of participants)

Quality of staff: percentage of adult learning budget invested in staff development

Quality of programmes: percentage of adult learning budget invested in course development

Sustainability: percentage of adult learning budgets invested by individual/non-public sources

 

Information on these quality criteria are rarely available for adult learning programmes, and providers of all formal.

References

1.      Becker, B., Ekholm, K. and M. Muendler (2013). Offshoring and the onshore composition of tasks and skills. Journal of International Economics. 90, (1). 91-106

2.      Bélanger, P. (2016). Self-construction and Social Transformation: Lifelong, Lifewide and Life-deep Learning. UIL. Les Presses de l ’Université de Montréal

3.      Bengtsson, J. (2013). ‘National strategies for implementing lifelong learning (LLL) - The gap between policy and reality: An international perspective’. International Review of Education, 59. 343- 352.

4.      Brewer, L. & Comyn,P. (2015). Integrating Core Work Skills in TVET Systems: Six Country Case Studies, International Labour Office. Geneva.

5.      Dymock, D., Billett, S., Klieve, H., Martin, G. (2012). ‘Mature Age White-Collar Workers Training and Employability‘. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 31 (2). 171-186.

6.      Frey, C. B. & Osborne, M. (2013). The Future of Employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerization? Working paper. Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment, University of Oxford.

7.      EC (2016). The Future of Work: Skills and Resilience for a World of Change, European Political Strategy Centre Strategic Notes. Issue 13/2016. European Commission. Brussels.

8.      ILC (2017). Reports of the Committee for Labour Migration: Resolution and conclusions submitted for adoption by the Conference. ILO, Geneva.

9.      ILO (2018). ‘Skills Policies and Systems for a Future Workforce’. Issue Brief 8 prepared for the 2nd Meeting of the Global Commission on the Future of Work. 15-17 February 2018. International Labour Office, Geneva.