Shifting to a skills-based system
While previous generations of talent could expect linear career progression and engagement in formal learning that decreases over time, the workforce of the future will be required to rapidly learn and relearn new skills as reskilling, upskilling and redeployment define the ‘new normal’ in the future of work.
Current systems of learning and signalling job-fit do not provide the agility that lifelong learners will require, and we find ourselves at a defining moment to make skills the currency of the labour market. Shifting to a skills-based system can not only provide more efficient mechanisms by which employers can identify the talent they need for business to flourish but can also create fairer labour markets where individuals are able to rapidly transition between roles; have greater access to learning opportunities; and be matched to employment through unbiased and skills-based evaluation.
The World Economic Forum proposed framework for a global skills taxonomy is a first step in shifting toward a skills-based labour market. We hope that the principles for implementation herein will serve to further align learning supply and demand around a common language for skill.
The proposed taxonomy builds on the recognized work taken forward by ESCO (European Skills, Competences and Occupations) and the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) framework by integrating additional emerging skills and attitudes, particularly as they relate to the trends highlighted in the Forum’s ongoing insights on the future of work. It aims to take a matrixed approach that combines skills and occupations.
This taxonomy focuses on the skills that are known to be of growing relevance in a fast-changing labour market, and aims to serve as a “universal adapter” for existing taxonomies across learning supply and demand by allowing users to cross-walk their taxonomy against this framework. It is designed to be used by Chief Learning Officers in developing their learning, reskilling and redeployment strategies; by Chief Human Resource Officers in their practices for hiring incoming talent; by learning providers who design and curate learning materials to be used in the workforce; and by governments who aim to assess skills needs within their economies.
Download: https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Skills_Taxonomy_2021.pdf