USA 
United Kingdom
The battle for artificial intelligence (AI) talent has been well documented in recent years, with employers resorting to ‘crazy’ tactics to secure prized hires.
Unusual recruitment efforts have ranged from top execs sending personal pleas to staggering sign-on bonuses.
But while the tech industry’s biggest players have not stopped their skirmish for top engineering hires, a greater problem is at play – the sheer scale of the skills gap across the US, and indeed, globally.
With demand for digital expertise rocketing, and the need for complementary human skills (agility, emotional intelligence, communication, et al) not far behind, the more significant problem facing employers is how to prepare their workforce, at scale, for a new kind of workplace.
We are now entering the great reskilling race. Can you keep up?
The great reskilling race begins
The pressure to take advantage of AI tools to automate processes, save time, boost productivity, and lower costs has left employers desperately attempting to bridge talent gaps within their workforce.
Despite suggestions that AI may lead to a jobs apocalypse, experts and analysts tend to argue this view is wide of the mark – but agree that the job market is being reshaped.
“AI is ultimately going to result in more job gains than losses, but in the process, it’s going to break down millions of careers,” said Kaelyn Lowmaster, Director Analyst in the Gartner HR practice.
Delivering Consistent HR Services for Deskless Workers
Paul Cheek, CEO of the AIDE Institute and a senior lecturer at MIT, provided more context in a research paper shared with CNN, finding that AI is creating a jobs boom reserved chiefly for experienced talent, with early-career talent in the lurch.
“The anxiety has been about AI replacing humans. What the data actually shows is a narrowing labor market where the AI opportunity is real, but reserved for those already at the top,” he wrote.
For employers, this all amounts to a need to invest more comprehensively in the reskilling and development of staff, regardless of their seniority, to not only fill urgent roles but also to nurture a vital pipeline of talent for the future.
Lowmaster explained: “As AI changes how work gets done, organizations must rethink how employees gain expertise and experience, or they will find themselves without ready talent for the jobs AI helps create.”
Cheek offered a similar warning: “CEOs need to prioritize AI talent at every level of the organization… They need to not just think about senior-level people, but the middle and junior roles they are grooming for the future.”
Who's moving two steps ahead?
Earlier this week, Meta announced the launch of its Americas Workforce Academy (AWA), designed to fill one of the many skills gaps – albeit a slightly less obvious one – that is emerging as a structural shortage.
The initiative will train workers in skills related to trade and physical infrastructure such as data centers (i.e. construction, electricals, and operations), with CEO Mark Zuckerberg anticipating that “hundreds of thousands of skilled tradespeople” will be required in the years to come.
AWA is a $115million program, open to “qualified veterans, recent graduates, career changers and other new entrants to the trades from all 50 states.”
“No prior experience” is required, while Meta has pledged to “fund all costs” and work with its operating partner to provide participants with “tuition, airfare, lodging, and a daily stipend during training.”
“At a time when too many Americans are searching for pathways to stable, family-supporting careers, this initiative opens doors,” remarked Marc H. Morial, National Urban League President & CEO.
Other major US employers are also investing heavily in reskilling to prepare their workforces.
Donna Morris, Walmart’s HR chief, has previously set out Walmart’s people-first approach to AI adoption in an interview with HR Grapevine. “We’re investing in upskilling and reskilling so associates are ready for the jobs of tomorrow,” she said. “This includes training in digital literacy, data analytics, and AI. We’re focused on building adaptable, resilient teams who can thrive in a fast-changing environment.”
Alex Laurs, Chief Learning and Development Officer for EY Americas, told HR Grapevine during a recent podcast about the creation of a “Future Skills Lab” – a team conducting applied research within EY to understand external and internal signals to understand “what skills are going to be more important in the future.”
The consulting giant has invested billions of dollars into tech and digital skills development.
Laurs described the company’s holistic investment in creating a culture of continuous learning: “Seeing the practical application of artificial intelligence in people's work, what we recognize… is that that behavior change isn't just a result of training on a particular skill, it's mindset, skill sets, and tool sets.”
Application & immersion the key
These brief examples sit among countless others. From PwC to Thomson Reuters, and Accenture to S&P Global, those leading the pack are prioritizing the creation of structured learning programs that align with immediate and future organizational needs, and offer staff meaningful career mobility.
Girish Ganeshan, Chief People Officer at S&P Global, told HR Grapevine the firm’s approach is built on three A’s: access, application, and acceleration.
“Where we are at is in the second phase, which is application,” he explained. “First, it was about providing access to everybody around what this technology is about? And how do we train you so that you can actually make meaningful use of it? And now we're in the application stage, where we have started to see automation of certain workflows, augmentation of certain work that can be done through AI.”
Yolanda Seals-Coffield, Chief People and Inclusion Officer at PwC US, recently shifted her company’s approach away from “periodic, classroom-style learning.”
“Learning can no longer wait for the right time, place, role, or ladder. It needs to be a full-immersion experience that accelerates people and their organizations forward at scale and with speed,” she explained.
Underneath the new-look workforce development model is the introduction of a ‘Human + AI Skillset’ curriculum, made up of 30 skills – 15 ‘AI-focused’ and 15 ‘human’ – which PwC believes are vital to its mission to build an “AI-native workforce.”
There are also dedicated programs for key groups such as engineers and graduates, as the firm looks to build a “world-class” track for technical talent and get junior associates up to speed.
For employers across the US and globally, investment in upskilling and talent mobility is now an absolute organizational priority.
Truly impactful programs ensure workers can access the tools and resources they need to learn, while also offering them ways to bake development into their day-to-day work, and the chance to pivot careers with ease and speed.
The great upskilling race has indeed begun – but there’s no reason why all employers can’t be winners.
