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Upskilling talent key to retaining employees

LinkedIn's report points to growing importance of soft skills in AI-driven world

Published: Jul 3, 2019 12:00:17 PM IST
Updated: Jul 9, 2019 12:08:47 PM IST

Upskilling talent key to retaining employeesIllustration: Chaitanya Dinesh Surpur

Robotic process automation, compliance and continuous integration are the top three rising skills in India, according to LinkedIn’s 2019 Future of Skills report. A report published in Wall Street Journal points to the growing importance of soft skills in a world of artificial intelligence and automation: 89 percent of survey respondents said it is difficult to find people with soft skills like analytical thinking, active learning and creativity; 60 percent think that critical thinking and problem solving will be crucial to the future of work.

LinkedIn surveyed 4,136 employees and 844 learning and development (L&D) professionals across Australia, India, Japan and Singapore for the study conducted over five years.

 The report highlights the lack of adequately skilled workers in the Asia-Pacific (APac) region. It estimates that by 2020, APac will face a labour shortage of 12.3 million workers at an annual opportunity cost of $4.2 trillion. 

Upskilling talent key to retaining employees
“Our research points to how talent drives business and skills drive talent today. Certain skills are becoming less in-demand as different skills are needed to succeed, therefore upskilling talent is key for organisations to meet their business goals,” says Ruchee Anand, head of talent solutions and learning solutions–India, LinkedIn. “Paying attention to skills is crucial in recruitment, as previous job titles may not always be an accurate measure of a professional’s capability and adaptability in this new world.”

“If you bring in a new skillsets too early, you run the risk of people getting frustrated because the work is not fully there. The advantage is getting early adopters, catalysts and champions,” says Tess Walton, head of Workforce Portfolio, ANZ Bank.

(This story appears in the 19 July, 2019 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)

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