The big picture
The workplace is ever-changing. Employers are demanding increasing flexibility, adaptability, short-term contracts, and project-based work, while workers are increasingly demanding job security, higher wages, and better work conditions.
Both from the supply and demand side of the work equation, we are experiencing very challenging times ahead for both employers and workers within the context of increasing business competition, automation, and ageing population.
Unfortunately, this gap will only increase over time in the future.
Without a doubt, there will be more over-qualified job seekers and graduates going after fewer available job vacancies due mainly to automation and the ageing population. As a result, more young people especially will increasingly be forced into spending more time in higher education.
In the process of acquiring more head knowledge, they will also be incurring more student loan debts that will weigh them down financially (and socially), causing them financial stress. This has also increased mental health issues experienced by many young people.
On paper, unfortunately, all college or university graduates will look the same. This creates tremendous competition and under-employment among younger job seekers.
Apart from spending time and money on their education, they graduate without acquiring the right employable (job-ready) and practical skills and experience that employers are desperately seeking to give businesses the competitive edge over other businesses.
In response to a very competitive business environment, employers are constantly restructuring and practising just-in-time hiring and contracting. They are increasing their use of short-term skilled workers or contractors as and when the need arises without the headaches of fixed overheads and permanent workforce. This gives employers the business flexibility to pivot and adapt to the ever-changing customer needs and competitors actions.
The use of temporary workers and automation will continue to put downward pressure on salaries and wages. There will not be much salary growth as under-employed workers will be forced to take on shorter-term or lower-paying jobs just to pay their bills and survive.
The rise of temporary, part-time or self-employment will significantly decrease the need for on-going full-time employment. Job security is dead unless workers can continuously adapt and future-proof themselves. Being future-ready and job-ready are now the keys for future job security for all workers.
To be hired, workers, contractors, and freelancers must constantly upgrade their skills, experience, and value-creation. They must respond positively to the constantly evolving needs and requirements of employers as businesses attempt to meet the profitability goals for their stakeholders. This is the only way to keep workers in employment for longer periods.
In reality, many school leavers don’t really know what they want to do in the future. This is understandable. As a result, an increasing proportion will make a job or career change, change their field of studies, or even drop out of colleges and universities altogether. They need our help to minimise any negative impact on their future.
Just-in-time continuous learning through flexible short courses (online virtual learning and offline bricks and mortar), and continuous on-the-job learning and training will become a norm as new skills are constantly created to keep up with advances in technology, evolving business models, and organisational restructuring.
The role and relevance of colleges and universities in preparing our future generations for work and employment must be scrutinised and debated. They must respond to the ever-changing need of the demand side of the work equation because graduates are using less than half of what they have learned in universities at work.
The half-life of knowledge is also decreasing. Technology is generating significant amounts of data where now jobs like data scientist have emerged.
As jobs are constantly being transformed through increasing automation and intense business competition, the traditional just-in-case method of learning and teaching will eventually fade away as people will only need to acquire and learn the required skill and knowledge as and when it is required by the employer for completing the work at hand. Let us not bother about the future now because we don’t know what future skills will be required.