What you'll learn:
- Course participants will gain a very good overview of the key technologies impacting on all our lives, now in 2024 and into the future
- Other forces of change are also discussed such as Globalisation, Climate Change, Demographics, Geo-Politics and the COVID-19 pandemic
- Students will understand the key hard and soft skills needed to prepare for the future of work and how to up-skill and re-skill
- Students interested in career change will learn which types of jobs are in and which type of jobs are out over the coming years to 2030 and beyond
- Apart from jobs, the course examines the need for you to become more entrepreneurial and diversify your livelihood
- Students will be able to advise others such as their own children on the skills and careers of the future as we look towards 2030
- The course also looks at how the COVID-19 global pandemic has impacted the future of work in our rapidly changing world
Today we are at the beginning of what has been termed the 4th Industrial Revolution - a period of rapid technological and economic transformation.This isn’t about some ‘far future’ of work. In many ways the future is already here (but it is just not evenly distributed!). In 2024, a study by PwC revealed that nearly half (45%) of CEOs worldwide were of the opinion that their companies would not remain viable in a decade if they persisted with their existing strategies. This indicates an increasing concern among business leaders, as this percentage marked an increase from 39% the previous year. The urgency for transformation is becoming more pronounced. CEOs expect more pressure over the next three years than they experienced over the previous five from technology, climate change and nearly every other megatrend affecting global business. As existential threats converge, many companies are taking steps to reinvent themselves and we need to do that too!
Research by Gallup also in 2023 showed that 72 % of Fortune 500 Chief human resources officers (CHROs) foresaw Artifificial Intelligence (AI) replacing jobs in their organization in the next three years. Indeed, 2023 was the year when generative AI became mainstream. ChatGPT launched on November 30th 2022 gained 100 million users in only 2 months! ChatGPT quickly became the fastest-growing app in history - a record broken just a few months later by Meta's Threads. Up to 49% of workers could see significant changes in their jobs due to large language models like ChatGPT (Tyna Eloundou et. al, 2023). On the other hand, about 60% of CEOs expect to see efficiency benefits from Generative AI, which could help relieve some routine burdens (PwC, 2024).
The pace of change is rapid and the world of work is being transformed by technology and other drivers of change at an ever increasing pace. In 2020 & 2021 the Covid-19 pandemic across the world also accelerated the changes which were already underway. The need for education has never been higher because the world is changing fast and people need to learn new skills. Will you be left behind or will you be ready for change? To be prepared for the future you have to understand it. Will there be enough employment in the future, and if so what will that work be? What key skills will you need? How should you upskill or reskill and what do these terms mean anyway? Should you become an entrepreneur and start your own business to diversify your livelihood? Should you develop a portfolio career with multiple sources of income? Which occupations will thrive, and which ones will decline? If you are a parent how should you advise your children on their career choice? By one popular estimate, 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist!
So much is happening in today’s world, and people have so little time to become informed, that there is a widening knowledge gap. This course gives you an overview of the different new technologies and other forces that are driving change in our world. The course describes the skills you and your loved ones need to develop to survive and thrive in this new world of the 4th industrial revolution. This isn’t a time to sit back and wait for events to unfold around you. What actions should you take today to reinvent yourself or your business? What should you tell your children and grandchildren, colleagues, friends and neighbours about the future of work?
Those individuals and organisations that understand the future of work, and prepare for it, will be the best placed to succeed.
Welcome to Future Skills 2030-Prepare for the 4th Industrial Revolution!
