RENO, Nev. — It's understood that many employers have been faced with myriad challenges when deciding to lay off staff over the past several months, and it's hard to remember what “normal” looked like.
However, in order to plan for the future, we must learn from the past, so we'll keep historical reference points in mind to cut through some of the variables and unknowns with which we're currently faced.
While technological advances increase a company's productivity and strengthen competitive advantage, elevating infrastructure and operations makes it more challenging to find the specialized talent necessary to progress.
Finding those diamonds-in-the-rough externally is costly, if it's even possible at all. On the flip side, this advancement has significantly reduced the demand for workers executing routine or “automatable” tasks.
As with most advancement throughout history, the benefits will not be realized equally. At least 54% of all employees nationally will need reskilling and upskilling by 2022 in order to remain marketable. Analyzing cost-benefit trends and projections, the World Economic Forum concluded U.S. employers should plan to upskill at least 25% of employees they might otherwise layoff.
The World Bank recommended businesses work together to invest in upskilling closer to 45% of their collective under-skilled workforce in order to create economies of scale in regional workforce ecosystems. Investing in the growth of your employees leads to a stronger workforce ecosystem for the local cluster, making our region more competitive and your industry more successful.
Given Nevada's ranking for being one of the states most vulnerable to disruption due to automation, we should be targeting a significantly greater percentage than those averages.
Nationally, experts are predicting businesses will rehire many of the millions of recently unemployed, but details vary tremendously when it comes to the when, where and how many.
That said, employers in industries most devastated are likely to be more cautious and discerning when deciding whom to bring back.
As the current crisis accelerates workforce trends that began to emerge toward the end of 2019, we can expect to see companies fast-track the move to a leaner workforce. Employers that invest in upskilling see greater employee loyalty and retention leading to a more efficient, well-rounded and productive workforce.
The solution? It's now more important than ever for companies to think about elevating the skills of their staff and for the workforce to invest however possible in their own marketability.
“Working Together,” which focuses on fostering a future workforce for the greater Reno region, is a recurring Voices column in the NNBW authored by the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. Amy Fleming is manager of workforce development for EDAWN. Reach her for comment at fleming@edawn.org.
-->RENO, Nev. — It's understood that many employers have been faced with myriad challenges when deciding to lay off staff over the past several months, and it's hard to remember what “normal” looked like.
However, in order to plan for the future, we must learn from the past, so we'll keep historical reference points in mind to cut through some of the variables and unknowns with which we're currently faced.
While technological advances increase a company's productivity and strengthen competitive advantage, elevating infrastructure and operations makes it more challenging to find the specialized talent necessary to progress.
Finding those diamonds-in-the-rough externally is costly, if it's even possible at all. On the flip side, this advancement has significantly reduced the demand for workers executing routine or “automatable” tasks.
As with most advancement throughout history, the benefits will not be realized equally. At least 54% of all employees nationally will need reskilling and upskilling by 2022 in order to remain marketable. Analyzing cost-benefit trends and projections, the World Economic Forum concluded U.S. employers should plan to upskill at least 25% of employees they might otherwise layoff.
The World Bank recommended businesses work together to invest in upskilling closer to 45% of their collective under-skilled workforce in order to create economies of scale in regional workforce ecosystems. Investing in the growth of your employees leads to a stronger workforce ecosystem for the local cluster, making our region more competitive and your industry more successful.
Given Nevada's ranking for being one of the states most vulnerable to disruption due to automation, we should be targeting a significantly greater percentage than those averages.
Nationally, experts are predicting businesses will rehire many of the millions of recently unemployed, but details vary tremendously when it comes to the when, where and how many.
That said, employers in industries most devastated are likely to be more cautious and discerning when deciding whom to bring back.
As the current crisis accelerates workforce trends that began to emerge toward the end of 2019, we can expect to see companies fast-track the move to a leaner workforce. Employers that invest in upskilling see greater employee loyalty and retention leading to a more efficient, well-rounded and productive workforce.
The solution? It's now more important than ever for companies to think about elevating the skills of their staff and for the workforce to invest however possible in their own marketability.
“Working Together,” which focuses on fostering a future workforce for the greater Reno region, is a recurring Voices column in the NNBW authored by the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada. Amy Fleming is manager of workforce development for EDAWN. Reach her for comment at fleming@edawn.org.
