THE FUTURE OF SKILLS: EMPLOYMENT IN 2030!

"Jobs are the cornerstone of our economic and social lives: they give people meaning, self-respect, income and the chance to make contributions to the communities where they live!"

Key findings from this important Pearson/Nesta report...

• Around one-tenth of the workforce are in occupations that are likely to grow as a percentage of the workforce and round one-fifth are in occupations that will likely shrink. 
• Education, healthcare, and wider public sector occupations are likely to grow while some low-skilled jobs, in fields like construction and agriculture, are less likely to suffer poor labor market outcomes than has been assumed in the past. 
• The report highlights the skills that are likely to be in greater demand in the future, which include interpersonal skills, higher-order cognitive skills, and systems skills. 
• It also identify how the skills make up of different occupations can be altered to improve the odds that they will be in higher demand in the future. 
• The future workforce will need broad-based knowledge in addition to the more specialised skills that will are needed for specific occupations. 

The debate about the future of jobs needs to focus on automation, globalisation, population aging, urbanisation, and the rise of the green economy. This report attempts to map out how employment is likely to change and the implications for skills.  By identifying the skills, abilities, and knowledge that are most likely to be important in the future, the report provides information that educators, businesses, and governments can use for strategic and policymaking purposes to better prepare us for the future.

History is a reminder that investments in skills must be at the centre of any long-term strategy for adjusting to structural change and a  precondition for this is access to good information on skills needs — without which policymakers risk flying blind.