Why ‘Skillscapes’ are the Future of Workforce Education

As the workplace changes, so do the 'skillscapes' that support it—that is, the diverse ecosystem of skills and competencies within industries and organizations. 

Mohan Kandasamy, EdTech Market leader and Christopher Kent, Foresight Lead at Cognizant explored how not only do today’s skillscapes emphasize continuous learning and adaptability, but they’re evolving, fast.

The rapid pace of change requires companies—and their employees—to stay informed about the shifts ahead and know how to navigate them.

Drivers of change – and the opportunities they create

Several trends are reshaping the skillscape within workforce education. For one, there’s growing concern about the value of college degrees versus the debt many students take on for education. For another, higher education in North America and Europe is grappling with falling enrolment, while automation is creating greater demands for on-the-job relearning and reskilling. 

The result of the change is the emergence of three critical shifts that will impact workplace experience—and open new opportunities. 

Expansion of apprenticeship models

The traditional concept of apprenticeships is undergoing big change in the modern workplace. Formerly a means for vocational training, the apprentice model has emerged as a path towards knowledge work. The long-term training positions are evolving as a strategy for workforce and talent development in a range of industries, from insurance and finance to software development. In addition to meeting workforce needs, this new spin on apprenticing offers an alternative to the college-for-all mentality and addresses concerns among educators and corporate leaders about skills misalignment. 

What you can expect to see: 

• Companies with successful apprenticeship models will sell turn-key programs or processes for those wanting to do it. 
• Apprenticeships will drive greater diversification and democratization of the workforce by expanding knowledge work beyond those who can afford college. 
• The apprenticeship model will expand to include boot camps for onboarding and internal training. 

Acceleration of workplace skilling

There’s a growing realization among businesses that reskilling and upskilling employees is far less disruptive than laying off workers and training new hires. The resulting emphasis on employee retention is driving demand for programs that reskill and upskill employees. The programs’ surge in popularity reflects the speed at which skilling needs to happen to promote corporate cultures of engagement and retention. 

What you can expect to see: 

• AI-driven tools like skill management software will help organizations map and inventory their existing workforce skills and anticipate emerging skill needs. 
• AI-based knowledge management systems will capture employees’ institutional knowledge for use in reskilling or upskilling as well as for on-boarding new hires. 
• Tapping into workers’ experiences, age and culture will help reshape training programs to suit specific learning styles and needs. 

Career ladders morph into paths

Employee careers no longer move up the ladder of success—they form a journey with climbs and detours as workers explore the career paths that best fit them.

There’s another important twist: The idea of developing whole workers and careers requires collaboration between companies and the people who work for them. While employers provide the resources and platforms, employees take ownership of their growth journey.

They choose what, when and how to learn, using the growing array of tools, data and programs to direct careers for greater personal fulfilment. We see this shift leading to the rise of learning ecosystems within companies—and better trained, highly motivated workforces that are more closely aligned with company goals. 

What you can expect to see: 

• As the idea of developing whole workers and careers evolves, expect to see a deeper merging of Human Resources (HR) and Learning and Development (L&D). One option for organizations is to separate HR’s administrative functions such as hiring and benefits from its employee support offerings and merge the latter with L&D. 
• Use of AI analytics to better understand employees and their goals will help shape more personalized learning and training to build long-term careers. 

What’s next? 

The changing nature of the skillscape will broaden the talent pool—and present growing pains for companies as they learn to adapt. It’s crucial that organizations not let the blinders of “this is how we’ve always done it” cut them off from new sources of talent. Retaining and reskilling existing talent generates beneficial effects beyond bottom-line cost savings such as actualized, fulfilled employees. 

Only by staying informed about how emerging skills and competencies are evolving will organizations and individuals remain competitive and relevant as the new workforce education future unfolds. 

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