The History, Significance, and Future of Upskilling

The future of upskilling is exciting because your critical thinking and problem-solving skills are increasingly valuable. Just recently, IBM published a report that predicted by 2025, the world would experience a shortage of 45 million highly skilled workers. Even in jobs that require significant technical training, workers still need to apply the skills that they’ve learned and need to think critically to solve problems or innovate. While technology may change, the job of a highly skilled worker will always be valuable.

In the 1980s, many economists thought that technological advancement could only be achieved through the process of down skilling, i.e. replacing workers with machines. However, now there are many business leaders and policymakers who believe that upskilling, i.e. enhancing workforce skills, is the way to go. Through upskilling, companies are not only able to utilize their existing workforce and other available resources better but also to motivate employees to work harder and be more efficient.

The history of upskilling goes back to the industrial revolution. Before that time, the only way to get better at your craft was to be either taught by someone or to practice for a very long time. Both of these required a mentor to teach you, as well as a lot of time. As the industrial revolution happened, new technology was invented, and this led to plenty of problems for the working class. New technologies meant that many workers were no longer needed for their skill sets. Workers had to learn how to use new machines and software in order to stay competitive in their jobs. Requirements for jobs changed, and workers had to learn how to be more competitive in this new world. Today, we see upskilling happening more and more as technology becomes more prevalent. This is especially true in the case of technology jobs, where workers are constantly required to learn new skills to keep up with technology.

What is Upskilling?

Upskilling is nothing more than the art of improving yourself by learning new skills that you can use to get a better job, earn more money and achieve financial freedom. In fact, the importance of upskilling in today’s world, where there are more jobs than qualified people, can't be overemphasized.

Upskilling is the superlative of skill, and skill is the most important factor in the success of your career. So, upskilling is the most important thing for professional growth. This can be achieved by learning new skills, getting the necessary certification, taking courses, going through online training, enrolling in online tutoring classes, and more. Upskilling helps you to stay relevant in the fast-paced world of technology. For example, you may want to become a better marketing person. Upskill yourself in marketing. Likewise, if you are a designer and want to become a good writer, you can Upskill yourself in writing via Quora answers. The more you write, the better you become at it.

Giving Some Insight into the Importance of Being 'Upskilled'

Upskilling is a term that encompasses increasing your skills in a given area. For example, if you want to get better at a sport or a hobby, then you’re upskilling. Any skill that you want to improve is covered by this term. It could be technical skills, where you’re practicing new techniques for increasing speed, accuracy, or whatever. It could be social skills, where you’re learning how to be more confident, more charismatic, or more relaxed in social situations. It could be something as simple as learning a new language, or a sport like a golf. This is one of the most powerful things you can do to improve yourself. If you’re willing to work hard, you can literally become the best at anything.

In order to remain employable and earn more, you need to be “upskilled.” Being “upskilled” is the continuous process of learning new skills throughout your career. To learn about the importance of being upskilled, you have to first recognize the job market of your state. For example in the US, there are currently 7,506,000 job openings according to the Labor Department, and 1,500 of them are positions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. To meet the job demand, you need to keep learning. Regardless of how many years you’ve been in the workforce, you should always be learning new skills and upgrading existing ones. There are loads of ways to do this. You can study on your own, take classes, go to seminars, read books, watch online courses, and more.

How Do We Close the Skills Gap

The skills gap is an issue that affects almost every industry these days, including the tech industry. When we talk about the skills gap, we are referring to the fact that the demand for skilled workers in the market is higher than the supply, which is why competition for jobs is so fierce and wages are increasing. So how do we close the skills gap?

We need to consider doing two things to close the skills gap. First, we need to align the education system with the needs of the market. Technology is changing so quickly that for many professions, basic skills will quickly become outdated. We need to focus on building the skills that are transferable across many different platforms and fields, such as critical thinking and problem-solving. Second, we need to make sure that the people who leave college with the requisite skills and knowledge are actually able to find a job that utilizes that knowledge and a job where they can support themselves on.

We need to start valuing skill acquisition not only in education but in our culture as a whole. In most countries, the widespread adoption of a four-year college degree has created a rift in the economy. On the one end, you have overqualified people who can't find a job, and on the other, people with no experience get paid less than what they deserve. If instead, we were to teach kids skills they need to succeed in the 21st century, then those who are naturally skilled in a certain field would be able to work, and people who can't find a job would be encouraged to learn a skill. If we had more people contributing to the market, then we could all make more money. What are your opinions on this?

Conclusion: The Future of Upskilling is Bright

We are living in an age where technology is growing exponentially. All the time, the software is being developed and upgraded. In order to keep up with the flow, programmers have to learn and upgrade their skills.  Upskilling is a term for the process of updating your skill set to increase your employability. In the IT industry, upskilling is common and there are various courses online that can help you to do the same.  However, the numbers are shrinking in the IT industry, as newer technologies are replacing older ones and new graduates in IT are being absorbed by jobs in other areas where there is an increased need for tech-minded workers. This is why upskilling has also become important in other industries as well. The idea is that if you can keep your skill set updated, you will always be in demand and will be able to negotiate for higher wages. Also, you will be able to switch jobs, even if they are in different industries and your salary will be higher than the junior employees.