Although the ongoing labor shortage may appear to be a direct result of the pandemic, it indicates a deeper issue.
Young people are not being prepared for the future of work, which was predicted in some form long before the health crisis accelerated the adoption of these new trends.
Former training programs are out-of-date. This means younger people and today’s workforce need a better understanding of new skills, such as how to exercise their human skills and work alongside artificial intelligence.
“Because of the way the world is evolving due to technology, most jobs will not exist [in the same way] when a young person who’s five years old now graduates college,” said Justin van Fleet, Executive Director at GBC-Education. “We need to prepare young people with those skills that really are transferable… it’s about making sure that young people leave school with that curiosity and ability to keep learning, which will be a premium in years to come.”
This is why van Fleet says that education should focus on skills such as problem-solving, flexibility, resiliency, and more.
GBC-Education is aiming to address these changes by partnering with educational institutions, businesses, and local communities to provide people with the ability to learn these needed skills.
For instance, one of the company’s latest grant initiatives called Big Ideas, Bright Cities in partnership with Dell Technologies and Deloitte aims to help younger people have access to better education that can prepare them for the future of work.
“With this initiative, we’re asking for people’s best solutions to this challenge. Come up with your most innovative idea, something you’d like to take to scale, or something completely outside the box, and let’s bring all these ideas forward and get them off the ground,” said van Fleet.
