Reskilling Revolution Providing Over 600M People with Better Education, Skills and Jobs

More than 680 million people are being reached with better skills, job opportunities and education through commitments made as part of its Reskilling Revolution initiative.

The World Economic Forum today announced that more than 680 million people are being reached with better skills, job opportunities and education through commitments made as part of its Reskilling Revolution initiative. Public and private sector leaders are convening in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, this week to advance an ambitious agenda to empower and prepare people for the future of jobs.

“With 23 percent jobs changing over the next four years and 40% of work-hours likely impacted by generative AI, investing in human capital initiatives like the Reskilling Revolution today is fundamental to getting ahead of disruptions to livelihoods and key to solving the environmental, technological and economic challenges of tomorrow,” said Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum.

Education, skills and economic opportunities

Launched at the Forum’s Annual Meeting 2020, the Reskilling Revolution implements public-private initiatives with the goal of providing 1 billion people with better education, skills and economic opportunities by 2030. Based on impact to date and commitments made by partners, the initiative is on track to reach over 680 million people by the end of the decade. The Reskilling Revolution initiative engages over 350 companies and 20 Country Accelerators

New commitments to the Reskilling Revolution include the US Department of Education’s Raise the Bar: Unlocking Career Success, which aims to reimagine how US high schools prepare all students to thrive in their future careers; IBM’s Skillsbuild, which aims to train 2 million people from underrepresented communities with artificial intelligence skills; and the European Roundtable for Industry’s R4E, which aims to reskill 5 million Europeans by 2030.

Workers and learners benefitting from these initiatives are being equipped with the skills and knowledge required for jobs in emerging industries. Over half of on-going activities are focusing on green and digital jobs, reflecting the importance of combining green and digital skills to power the green transition. Members of the Reskilling Revolution highlight AI and big data, technology literacy, leadership and social influencing as the skills of highest priority.

A number of other key announcements were made at this year’s Annual Meeting in Davos on the jobs and skills agenda:

  • The Philippines, Viet Nam and Qatar have joined a growing network of 20 Country Accelerators focusing on education, skills and jobs.
  • Twenty-one companies have joined the Good Work Alliance, a coalition of businesses across 15 industries setting ambitious targets to provide good working conditions to about 2.5 million workers.
  • The Refugee Employment Alliance, Co-Chaired by UNHCR and Ingka Group, has hired over 54,000 refugees globally in the last 2 years and aligned on pathways to deliver on the commitment to hire 125,000 additional refugees by the end of 2027
  • 13 new Skills-First Lighthouses were announced: public and private initiatives that are promoting skills-based labour practices that allow people to leverage their talents irrespective of formal qualifications or networks.
  • Building on the toolkit for responsible adoption of AI in the workplace, CEO and Ministerial members of the Jobs Consortium, endorsed the World Economic Forum’s Jobs Initiative to develop lighthouses of Generative AI driven job augmentation and job transitions in 2024
  • A new report, in collaboration with Capgemini, identifies and quantifies the jobs most conducive to fully remote work and estimates that by 2030 there will be 90 million global digital jobs, enhancing access to global jobs and talent.

Quotes from the initiative:

“The Reskilling Revolution was timely when the Forum launched the initiative four years ago, and it is now even more urgent. On the one hand, technology improves people’s lives and creates a more connected world. On the other, it contributes to growing polarization between those with the skills to take advantage of digitization and those without. As tech adoption continues at pace, increasing people’s employability and providing them with greater control of their prosperity and earning potential is critical to creating a future that is better for the many, not the few.” – Jonas Prising, CEO, ManpowerGroup

“The rise of global digital jobs is shaping new frontiers of work. With the right investments and policies, this can ensure a dynamic and inclusive future. Thanks to the research done alongside the Forum and with data support from Faethm by Pearson, we can expect over 90 million global digital jobs by 2030.” – Claudia Crummenerl, Managing Director, Capgemini Invent

“It’s crucial to bring people along on the digital and green transformation journey, in order to build trust in organizations and the technology that will be key to ensuring a future of economic growth and prosperity for everyone.” – Judith Wiese, Chief People and Sustainability Officer, Siemens

“With the signing of this Collaboration Agreement, both our organizations will exchange insightful ideas and implement best practices gained from other accelerator partners in the growing global village. This interaction will be deeply rooted in our established science, technology, and innovation (STI) driven approach to ensure a robust and sustainable growth through strategic investments.” – Fred Pascual, Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry, The Philippines

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