Future of Talent Marketplace

1.0.??????Understanding the context: Change accelerators

The world is going through complex transition. New technologies, demographic shifts and the impact of Covid-19 is rapidly changing the very concept of identity, learning and career.

The fourth industrial revolution (4.0.) with waves of disruptive technologies—such automation, smart devices, distributed ledger technology, the Internet of Things, big data, AI and robotics — is radically transforming learning and type of skills required for talent to thrive in new age of work. Digital disruption has created new workforce ecosystem such as freelance and Gig economy, including digital nomads.

Image: Visualization of factors shaping talent marketplace. Visualization is based on my research.

We are living through a fundamental transformation in the way we work. Automation and 'thinking machines' are replacing human tasks, changing the skills that organizations are looking for in their people.?The half-life of skills is shrinking fast. Dynamic and transforming nature of skill landscape makes it imperative for talents to constantly learn and retrain themselves to remain truly competitive in the knowledge economy.

Demographic Shift: Millennials and Gen Z are taking over workforce is shaping new career models and pathways.

·???????New Mindset: Degree to skills & Competencies

·???????New pathways:?Careers to Experience

·???????New proposition: Career Path Transparency

Generation K - with different set of priorities and expectations - is entering higher education for first time. The Gen k are hyperconnected and (8 hours/day online) crave for connection and the way they connect is completely different from event the Millennial generation. Research has shown Generation K are:

·???????Distrustful of traditional institutions

·???????86% worried about getting a job

·???????77% worried about getting into debt

The world information proliferation and social media distraction (infinite feed, constant notification, attention monetizing strategy, instadanger & facebook envy) has proved particularly toxic for mental health and well-being of people.

These realities are making companies to rethink the way they manage career, learning and talent Acquistion. These momentous changes raise huge organizational, talent and HR challenges – at a time when business leaders are already wrestling with unprecedented risks, disruption and political and societal upheaval.

1.1.????????Workforce of Future:

“A 2018 Deloitte report, The Open Talent Economy, supports this evidence, stating, “The evolving workforce is a mixture of employees, contractors and freelancers, and - increasingly - people with no formal ties to your enterprise at all.” The consultancy defines open talent as ‘a collaborative, transparent, technology-enabled, rapid-cycle way of doing business. What the open-source model did for software, the open talent economy is doing for work. In this new economy, access to talent is more important than ownership of talent.”

COVID-19 accelerated changes in the workplace and Open Talent economy , including?asynchronous and virtual collaboration ,?remote & hybrid working, distributed & diverse workforces, and?reskilling?and?upskilling.?This means Workforce of future will be a combination of contractors, gig workers, algorithms, robots working with full time employees for multiple projects

New?research?from WeWork and Workplace Intelligence found that in a?post-COVID-19 workplace, employees want to split their time almost evenly between three types of spaces: corporate offices, their home, and other spaces such as co-working spaces or cafes.

Study suggests that as the pandemic subsides and restrictions are eased,?many companies are planning a new combination of remote and on-site working, a?hybrid virtual model - some employees work on premises, while others work from home.?

For example, at?IBM?how often an employee goes into the office will be determined by work deliverables or the need for team collaboration. Other companies such ?as?Uber,?Citigroup?and?H&R Block?are require employees to work in office two to three per week.

According to McKinsey and Company, six models are reflecting a mix of on – site and remote working: Optimizing the hybrid virtual continuum

The Next Normal - Hybrid Virtual World: Combining virtual and on-site workers pose a lot greater challenges for leaders. The new model will require organizations to optimize new model with greater access to talent, increased productivity for individuals and?small teams, lower costs, more individual flexibility, and improved?employee experiences.

Open Talent economy with hybrid virtual workforce creates marketplace where an organization no longer need to source a talent with geographical constraints, but can source around where talent is – matchmaking a talent anywhere with specific set of skills to skill required for a particular job. With new talent driven economy, talents increasingly expect companies to offer them not only competitive compensation and benefits, but also a compelling employee experience. These changes will require whole lot more constructive dynamism in the talent marketplace where companies fight for talent with greater skills and competencies in a strategic effort to create competitive advantage. As changes driven by technology & demographic shift demonstrates the revenue impact of talents, innovative organizations will shift focus of their planning to “talent planning”.?The connection has been made clearly in sports and entertainment industry. The bestselling book Money ball has elucidated the direct impact having “right talent ’has on wining the sport.?

For employers to successfully navigate talent economy, it becomes imperative to access, engage & collaborate with global talent pool with greater fluidity and flexibility. This underscores the valuable role that employers can play in postsecondary & higher education by creating a whole new value network that connects students directly with employers. Moreover, employers also need devise long-term and strategic approach for talent development, reaching to K -12 system.

“The pace and scale of technological disruption—with rising unemployment and widening income disparity — & demographic shifts will create unprecedented social and political challenges reiterating the need for connecting & reinventing talent value chain for the new economy. A talent value chain is set of activities that support a learning & career advancement from complex interaction such as university admission or getting a job or research funding to attending an event, internship.

Image: Visualization of what numbers speak. Visualization is based on my research. Source of information provided.

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” -- --Richard Buckminster Fuller, “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth”

Future of talent marketplace needs solution that connect talent value chain to personalize education, research & career journey of talents This means creating greater fluidity, dynamism and visibility in the market - Such as solution can address the issues at scale and speed.