1. Changing world of work and impact on skills needs
Dr. Laura BREWER
Senior Skills and Employment Specialist,
Decent Work Team for Southern and Eastern Africa,
International Labour Organization

2. Which skills and qualifications?
World is changing
Global drivers of change
Globalization
Work organization
Climate change
Demographic change
Technological change
Which jobs?
Which tasks?
Which skills and qualifications?

3. Technological change:
Some 10%-18% jobs may be automated
But many new jobs will be created
And most jobs will undergo fundamental change in job tasks and skills required
Demand for routine and manual tasks is decreasing
Demand for higher-skilled tasks, problem-solving and inter-personal skills is on the rise
Skills to innovate but also to deploy, operate and maintain technologies, i.e. not only university-educated but also TVET-trained people will be needed

4. Globalisation and trade
Technology spillover and redistribution of the division of labour
Servicification of GSCs
Exporting firms tend to be larger, more productive and employ higher skilled labour
Skills are key for both quantity and quality of export growth and to economic diversification
Skills play a role of a buffer helping to reduce adjustment costs
Coherence between trade and investment policy and skills development
Percent of firms identifying an inadequately educated workforce as a major constraint
Source: WB Enterprise surveys, available years

5. Work organisation
High performance work practices: more emphasis on core skills and motivation to learn
Non-standard forms of employment rising
Access to training become an issue
Incentives for individual access to training and continued investment of private sector will be needed

6. Climate change / environmental sustainability
24 million “green jobs” jobs to open up
6 million jobs lost may be lost mainly in fossil fuel energy generation
1.2 million jobs impacted by environment
New and emerging skills but most importantly adapting existing qualifications

7. Demographic change Aging and shrinking labour force
Activation measures and skills recognition
Care economy
Youth employment challenge: translate the demographic dividend into skilled workforce to attract investments and create jobs

8. Labour mobility is growing, likely to intensify
Close to 5 % of all workers are migrant workers and the share is growing by around 10% in last 5 years
Managing “brain drain” and “brain waste”
Validating and recognizing skills

9. World is changing Industry 4.0
Cyber-physical systems
Advanced robotics
3D printing
IoTs AI
Cognitive computing
Big data
Electronics, IT and automation
Electricity and mass production
Water/steam power
End of 18th century
(1784)
Beginning of 19th century (1870)
Beginning of 1970s
(1969)
Today
(2010s)

10. Demand for higher level skills is growing
Source: ILO modelled estimates

11. Implications for skills needs
3. Core work and transferable skills
4. Entrepreneurial skills
5. Digital skills
1. Specialised Technical Skills
2. Foundational Skills
Quality and Relevance of technical skills
Promote stronger Foundational Skills
Foster core employability skills
Promote entrepreneurial skills
Enhancement of digital skills

12. More information at: www.Ilo.org/skills