Beyond the headlines...musings...
On January 8th, the latest employment numbers were released: analysis upon analysis sliced and diced the results. Some said that they were not as dire as the ones reported back in 2010. Others relayed that the dire results were confined to certain markets; all compared our reports to the United States results and the upward employment trends happening south of us. None delved in the nebulous landscape of what these draconian shifts mean, long term, for workforce development, labour mobility and, more importantly, competencies required to navigate not only shifting sands but the new Terra Nova that will emerge.
Looking back and understanding the basis for dramatic changes is necessary. What is even more required is the ability to look forward. What will emerge? How will the labour market look like, feel like? What will be required to face it and integrate oneself into it? Last Friday's column by Barry Critchley in the Financial Post makes the case that "Change should be ordained at home" and proceeds to muse that Steve Pinkus vision of change needs to be a holistic one: "increased pace of change, increase brought on by global competition, fallout from M&A activities, technological impact..." to name a few. And yet, internal organizational processes are not keeping pace and we as individuals are not looking forward beyond the next horizon of the next job.
Labour markets are shifting now but nothing compared to the incoming shifts due to new technologies, driven by societal demands such as shared economies. Where are the discussions on what these shifts will mean to our formal education paths? Where are the discussions on when, will we finally, adopt a national Competency framework, across industry sectors, to facilitate workforce mobility during severe contraction periods? Most importantly, why are we not speaking of the long term shifts that will reshape labour markets and workforce development focus? Where are our futurists? We don't need to live in Hogwarts; we only need to go back to the lost art of asking questions! Remember "QBQ! The Question Behind the Question" ? Shouldn't we reclaim that ability? Shifts don't wait! Unemployment does not mean the end of skills shortages and most certainly does not mitigate skills mismatches. The article below is the tip of that iceberg!