People are the key to any successful construction project. We must ensure we train and retain them, in order to maximize efficiency on projects. But we also must continually reevaluate their roles on the projects as well. Sometimes work changes and the job demands different skillsets. For today’s blog, let’s wrap up the “people” portion of our people, process, and technology series by looking at the importance of reskilling, upskilling, and new skilling.
All about Reskilling
Reskilling is simply learning a new skill or set of skills so that a worker can do a new or different job. Or it could also simply be that the role the worker is currently in is evolving.
Let’s say for example a construction estimator. Takeoffs used to be done manually (we are going way back here for a minute). With the advent of new takeoff and estimating software, the estimator’s role changed. They needed to reskill, while staying in the same position. They needed to learn a new skillset to accomplish the evolving job.
Today, AI (artificial intelligence) is set to disrupt nearly every job that exists in construction and in nearly every industry around the world. Bloomberg has famously said gen AI could grow 42% in the next 10 years, becoming a $1.3 trillion market by 2032. Whether those numbers are accurate or not, it is hard to argue AI won’t disrupt jobs.
The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2023 suggests companies predict 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years. Most jobs are going to need to be reskilled in the future.
Reskilling often involves teaching and training workers intensively, so they are able to do something new in their role at the company. With the technology example, this may involve having an outside consultant or tech company come in to teach how to use new technology.
All about Upskilling
In contrast, upskilling is giving employees more advanced skills through education and training. The difference here is these workers are now going to a higher level with their learning and career.
While reskilling is often disruptions—such as technology and others—that force a change within a company, upskilling is often about the worker and their evolution within the company. An example could be a young worker moving up to project manager or the C-suite. As this worker moves up in their career, they will need new, advanced skills to do the job. This could be leadership training internally or externally. It could be safety training, corporate training, you name it.
Now, while reskilling is often about the employee and their walk within the company, there are a few things that could disrupt here and require upskilling to happen. Perhaps the biggest is the labor shortage.
The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2023 looks closely at the labor-market churn, which is the pace of the reallocation of workers and jobs. Overall, it estimates a mean structural labor-market churn of 23% for surveyed companies across sectors and countries in the next five years. Overall, the analysis suggests 69 million jobs will be created and 83 million jobs will be destroyed, necessitating upskilling for many organizations.
All about New Skilling
Another term to consider is new skilling. This is an individual that is a continuous learner who looks to build high-demand skills. A company can provide ongoing new skilling for its workers—and companies that do this can remain agile in the face of a changing market.
While the other two are about evolutionary and revolutionary job changes, new skilling is simply a mindset by a worker and a company to always be learning.
The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2023 suggests surveyed companies report investing in learning and training on the job and automating processes are the most common workforce strategies that will be adopted to deliver their organization’s business goals in the next five years, and that four in five respondents expect to implement these strategies in the next five years.
A good way to continually learn is by learning from those who have been in the industry longer than us. Over on Substack, Peggy Smedley is offering exactly this: a way to continuously learn about their industry and build those in-demand skills. Head over there and subscribe to continue your learning journey.
As we move into a new era of construction—spurred on by the rise in tech adoption—we must consider our workers. We must consider their skillsets and how they will evolve.
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