Article: Unlearn and upskill: Currencies for sprinting the industry 4.0 transformation

Skilling

Unlearn and upskill: Currencies for sprinting the industry 4.0 transformation

Industries are no longer creating job-opportunities at the same rate, or with the same demands. Hence, the question that every corporate might face is whether or not to invest in human resources when a machine is a much cheaper, reliable, and error-free option.
Unlearn and upskill: Currencies for sprinting the industry 4.0 transformation

Change, howsoever vast, is an inevitable necessity. It has transpired across generations to transform the way we perceive the world around us. In resonance to this fact, the incoming age of Industry 4.0 has quite subtly molded itself to further strengthen this constant line of change. Yet, unlike the changes that we may have experienced in the past, Industry 4.0 promises to affect us to an unparalleled magnitude, thereby making it a necessity to evaluate, integrate, and accommodate the consequences of this age.

As it happens, this change also imbibes the characteristics of a chain reaction, which means that Industry 4.0 will not only affect the way work is perceived but also the fundamentals of learning. The onset of such an era may just prove to be the pivot point that defines the course of our future. While we head towards an uncertain tomorrow, it is not only a necessity but a norm to evaluate the scope of challenges and solutions that await us

Future 4.0 - The Norm of Learnability

With the breakthrough of Industry 4.0, each one of us will feel the need to constantly improve in order to stay relevant and take hold of the future. Yet, we lack a parameter upon which we may evaluate ourselves if the old notions will no longer command significance. Therefore, the idea of learnability is being proposed as one of the ways to ensure that our tomorrow resonates with our present.

Being learnable means possessing the ability to re-learn, re-skill, and re-grow beyond the conventions. An idea as such is credited to enormous upgrade in the workforce and higher spike in supply against the existing demand. Until now, technical skills have clearly dominated the mindset of every job seeker. Yet, learnability is soon to be recognized as the defining pillar of one’s value. 

Coherently, in the near future, solving a complex problem will also establish itself as a must-have skill in an ideal professional. The workforce will experience a drift from the execution level, where every individual will need to upgrade and cultivate a problem-solving mindset. Inherently, critical thinking will become the need of the hour to overcome the evident skills crisis. Though we cannot predict much about the magnitude of change that awaits us, yet we can say that the skill trends for 2019 will experience a significant transformation.

The Demand of Industry 4.0

With the onset of industry 4.0, the tables have turned upright in the job landscape. No longer, do we seek polished individuals who command proficiency in a single field? No longer, are industries willing to invest in and train individuals from scratch. With a sudden rise in the skill trends, we have raised our expectations from the workforce. Moreover, the increased adoption of automation and machine learning has nullified the scope for routine, tech-scalable jobs. As a result, industries are no longer creating job-opportunities at the same rate, or with the same demands. Hence, the question that every corporate might face is whether or not to invest in human resources when a machine is a much cheaper, reliable, and error-free option.

Such a drastic change has brought us to a standpoint where learnability, critical thinking, and a problem-solving mindset will become the core parameters for industries to evaluate one’s worth. Consequently, we’ve come a long way from a world where mastering a single skill was quite enough. As it stands now, every professional may need to re-skill five or six times in their career span to stay relevant.

Job roles that will stay relevant in 2019 with emerging technologies

The landscape of jobs has experienced a significant change in recent years, caused by the disruptions caused by exponential technologies. The likes of IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Robotics Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning, and Web 3.0 have led to a meteoric rise in job opportunities. As this technological revolution continues to grow, we can expect that job roles in the coming years will also experience an equally significant drift along with an increase in demands in the workforce.

While the traditional fields will continue to co-exist, profiles such as Data scientists, Data Engineer, Datacenter engineer and Data Product Analysts have risen to the top of the pile. As per an Economic Times article, there is 1.5X-2X more demand for technology talent in 2019. The most in-demand skills would be in Robotics, Blockchain, Decision Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Design Thinking and User-experience design. Such a drift to emerging technologies is credited to the constant surge in digitalization among other factors. We can expect an even bigger shift in this graph as we head for an unpredictable, uncertain future.

Today, we find ourselves in a delicate position where the future may or may not turn out the way we want. For now, it is safe to say that as long as we are re-skillable and learnable, the future is secure. To stay relevant, we only need to think critically, solve every problem, and eventually, unlearn and learn.

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Topics: Skilling

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