Why Now is the Best time to Upskill Your Workforce

By Deepshikha Singh

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India has rightly said, - ‘The more we give importance to skill development, the more competent will be our youth.’ As per a report by NASSCOM, about 40 percent of India’s total workforce needs to be reskilled over the coming five years to cope with all the emerging trends like AI, IoT, machine learning, blockchain and so on. With India having only about 65 percent of its youth in the working age group at present, there is no doubt that this is an absolutely interesting time within the L&D, training, and performance industry to come forward. Also, the global Covid19 pandemic has put the working class in a tough spot where upskilling has become more important than ever before and it is the only best thing that employees can do to not just increase their value in the industry but also save their jobs at such tough time.

With the global transformation, evolving work demands and upgraded skill requirements are the new fad ready to take over the old school methods of operations. Also, technologies such as robotics and AI are changing work style and how people should prepare for them has become very important. Given that many jobs are changing, it may come as no surprise that according to a recent World Economic Forum report, more than half – almost 54 percent - of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling in just three years. Emphasizing on the same, recently National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has also collaborated with TCS iON, a strategic unit of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to provide uninterrupted online learning to millions of India’s skill seekers during pandemic. Giving his views on the digital and eLearning initiatives, Dr. Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) said, “In these unprecedented times, digital learning initiatives are playing a crucial role in keeping learners connected and in maintaining continuity. There numerous online resources and platforms that skill seekers and professionals can use today to equip themselves with today’s new-age skills in the current scenario.”

As per a report by NASSCOM, about 40 percent of India’s total workforce needs to be reskilled over the coming five years to cope with all the emerging trends like AI, IoT, machine learning, blockchain and so on

With more than $400 million been invested in fast-growing skill providing platforms like EdX, Khan Academy, Coursera, and Udemy, the marketplaces for online training is very broad, serving millions of users after only a few years of operation. Upskilling has now become a growth imperative for organizations that see a lot of positions going unfilled without the right candidate to get on board. Undoubtedly, it has become increasingly apparent that organizations in today’s tight talent market cannot depend just on recruitment teams to find the right people to fill those roles. The current pandemic environment has also got the businesses to rethink and redesign their strategies and practices to plan skilling and livelihood of workforce for self-sustainability. In a world where technology is changing jobs and people are living longer lives with more diverse careers, now is the right time for organizations to upskill their workforce. Also, with new solutions for online learning, the skill seekers can control the trajectory of their career by gaining the right skills which are in great demand in the current marketplace.

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