Outdated Education & Workplace Training Put at Risk US$11.5 Trillion in Growth Promised by Intelligent Technologies, Finds Ac...
September 19 2018 - 6:01PM
Business Wire
Investment in experiential learning,
individualized learning and empowering vulnerable workers are the
best paths to narrowing skills gap
The economic promise of digital technologies is being put at
risk by inadequate education and corporate training systems,
according to Accenture (NYSE: ACN). Unless radically new learning
approaches are adopted, the failure to close the skills gap could
result in 14 of the G20 economies forgoing as much as US$11.5
trillion in GDP growth promised by investment in intelligent
technologies over the next ten years.
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The growth premium in peril if economies
are unable to meet the demand for skills (Graphic: Business
Wire)
The report, It’s Learning. Just Not As We Know It, published in
collaboration with the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (G20 YEA),
includes ground-breaking analysis that helps organizations assess
their future workforce to prepare skilling strategies. It reveals
how intelligent technologies will change the tasks that make up
work and identifies the new skills that will be required to perform
them. It calls for education and corporate training systems to
commit to three areas of action in order to develop these new
skills more effectively.
According to the report, on average across the 14 economies
covered, 51 percent of worker time is subject to potential
augmentation as intelligent technologies enhance people’s
capabilities. Thirty-eight percent could potentially be automated,
but the impact varies between job roles and geographic markets,
pointing to the need for targeted interventions to accelerate
opportunities and manage risk.
In the U.S., for example, workers in Empathy and Support-related
roles, such as nurses, represent the largest single share of
employment and have the greatest opportunities to boost
productivity through augmentation. Sixty-four percent of their work
time could be augmented, and Accenture research finds that 14
percent of augmentation could take place in the next ten years.
Appropriate investments in skill building could fulfil demand for
as much as 1.4 million additional workers in these roles over the
coming decade.
“Whether new technologies augment or automate work, upskilling
is an urgent priority,” says Eva-Sage Gavin, senior managing
director at Accenture and Global head of the Talent and
Organization practice, Accenture. “But before business leaders
commit to improved workplace training, they must assess how
technology will reconfigure work in their sector and the new range
of skills it will demand of their people.”
The rising importance of new skillsets
Complex reasoning, creativity, socio-emotional intelligence and
sensory perception are the skills that are rising in importance
across almost every single work role, according to the report. The
importance is set to increase further with the adoption of
intelligent technologies.
“Current learning approaches aren’t fit for today, let alone
tomorrow. Evidence from neuroscience and behavioral sciences show
us there are better ways to learn,” says Armen Ovanessoff,
principal director, Accenture Research. “Many of the most important
skills for the future workplace are best acquired through practice
and hands-on experience. We need an overhaul of skilling approaches
that puts experiential learning techniques front and center.”
Accenture recommends a three-pronged approach to solving the
skills crisis:
- Speed up Experiential Learning:
Deploy a range of techniques, from design thinking in the board
room to simulation training tools for more technical roles; from
on-the-job training initiatives to apprenticeship schemes. In
schools, provide active project-based learning and team-based
learning activities. Apply new technologies like virtual reality
and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make learning more immersive,
engaging and personalized.
- Shift focus from Institutions to
Individuals: Education and training targets should incentivize
each individual to develop a broader blend of skills, rather than
only producing certain numbers of graduates from specific courses.
This blend must include a focus on complex reasoning, creativity
and socio-emotional intelligence.
- Empower Vulnerable Learners:
Older workers, the less educated, those in physical manual labor
roles, and in smaller businesses are more vulnerable to work
dislocation and have less access to training. Targeted intervention
is required to guide these learners to appropriate training and
career pathways. Courses must be more modular and flexible to adapt
around their life commitments. New funding models must encourage
lifelong learning, such as grants to support personal training
plans.
For more information on this analysis, please visit
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/future-workforce/transforming-learning.
Or join the conversation: #FutureWorkforce #G20YEA.
About the research
Accenture used statistical clustering to analyze skills,
abilities and work activities. These were used to develop 10
empirically-derived groupings of roles and occupations that utilize
similar skills, perform similar tasks and that can be expected to
be affected in similar ways by intelligent technologies. The 10
role clusters were used to categorize the workforce composition of
14 G20 countries. To calculate forgone growth premium, Accenture
analyzed how intelligent technologies will impact specific work
tasks and skills needs. Using Data from the Occupational
Information Network (O*NET) of the U.S. Department of Labor and
from the International Labour Organization (ILO), Accenture
calculated total potential time susceptible to automation and
augmentation for different occupations. GDP growth (2018-2028) was
modelled under two supply assumptions in order to measure the GDP
at stake if skilling needs are unmet. Forgone Growth Premium was
presented under two different scenarios about investment in
intelligent technologies. Accenture also conducted in-depth
interviews with business leaders, experts and practitioners from
multiple sectors, and drew on the expertise and experience of
Accenture’s own professionals in learning, technology and talent
development. Visit
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/future-workforce/transforming-learning
for full methodology.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries
and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest
delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business
and technology to help clients improve their performance and create
sustainable value for their stakeholders. With 449,000 people
serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
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Accenture Media RelationsTourang Nazari, +1
202-322-4640tourang.nazari@accenture.com
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