Workers must sharpen soft skills to thrive in the age of AI - lobby
By Alfred Onyango |
It notes that soft skills, such as critical thinking, emotional intelligence, creativity and problem-solving, will become increasingly vital in navigating this transformation.
You should brace yourself with sharpened soft skills in the coming years if you are to remain relevant in the workplace environment that will soon experience immense disruption by Artificial Intelligence (AI), experts have warned.
Speaking during this year's annual meeting of the Global Future Councils hosted by the economic think tank, the World Economic Forum (Wef), they underscored the growing importance of soft skills in the workplace, as AI continues to reshape the job market.
Keep reading
- PSC warns public over fake internship placements offered by imposter
- Over 100 cyber attacks targeting key government infrastructure recorded in eight months
- Employee engagement identified as top challenge in achieving sustainability goals -report
- Kalonzo: Those delaying reconstitution of IEBC have self-centred interests
According to the lobby's compiled report, by 2027, businesses predict that AI will disrupt nearly half (44%) of workers' core skills, highlighting a critical need for employees to adapt.
It notes that soft skills, such as critical thinking, emotional intelligence, creativity and problem-solving, will become increasingly vital in navigating this transformation.
Notably, the focus aligns with the findings of the Forum's "Future of Jobs 2023" report, which revealed that seven of the top 10 skills expected to rise in demand between 2023 and 2027 are non-technical.
These are: Creative and analytical thinking, curiosity and lifelong learning, resilience, flexibility and agility.
Others include systems thinking, motivation and self-awareness, talent management, service orientation and customer service.
This is to mean that workers who can effectively collaborate, communicate and innovate will remain invaluable assets to organisations in the coming years, as automation and AI take over routine tasks.
The calls to prioritise the sharpening of soft skills are echoed by a recent survey by the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), which says the soft skills deficit in the country is denying most youths jobs.
Among them, are poor communication, collaboration and time management skills, and low critical thinking capacity.
Dubbed the 'Skills Needs Survey report', the report notes that most employers have raised concern over youths' skills gap, making them not stay longer at the workplace.
This is despite the unemployment crisis affecting a larger number of them, with the Youth Congress saying out of every 10 unemployed Kenyans, seven are young people aged 35 and below.
Lack of creativity, problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills were also identified as other social impediments to youths' progress in the job market.
From the survey, 49.1 per cent of the respondent firms identified effective communication as the most lacking social skills among job applicants.
Critical thinking at 41.7 per cent, teamwork at 25.7 per cent and time management skills at 23.4 per cent.
"Employers also decry insufficient technical skills such as computer use proficiency, foreign language proficiency and management skills," the report states.
The survey confirmed that such gaps have made it difficult for enterprises to fill vacancies. This is as Wef adds that education also needs to respond faster to AI.
"Technological development is creating an uphill struggle for the education system. The better technology gets, the worse formal education becomes, because the better technology becomes, the formal education institute is just constantly lagging further and further behind," Wef says.
Reader comments
Follow Us and Stay Connected!
We'd love for you to join our community and stay updated with our latest stories and updates. Follow us on our social media channels and be part of the conversation!
Let's stay connected and keep the dialogue going!
Latest News For You
