When we say it’s going to look different, what does that actually mean? It means lots of things, but basically, everything’s going to be way more automated and a lot more flexible (or unstable, depending on how you look at it). There’ll be fewer traditional industry jobs that we’ve grown used to relying on in Aus, and people will have to be more innovative (job *creators rather than job seekers) to find their place in the world.
We’ve just released a report showing that many young Australians aren’t going to be prepared for this new way of doing things. As we said, 35 per cent aren’t proficient in digital, 30 per cent aren’t financially literate and almost one third don’t have sufficient problem solving skills. Young Indigenous people are falling behind in maths, science, technology and reading skills. And it takes, on average, 4.7 years for young people to find full-time work after they finish their full time education. Scare-eee.
Getting Australia (especially young people) prepared for these changes to the world of work is going to take a lot of effort and good brain power, which is why we’re asking Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to provide an Enterprise Education Strategy. It’s a pretty big job, but we reckon it’s important and worth it.
The good news is that you don’t have to sit around waiting for this to happen, you can upskill in some of these areas from the comfort of your own loungeroom. It’s not going to get you certified, but it’s a decent start.
So. We asked some of our mates-in-the-know about the kinds of things they offer to build what we call ‘Enterprise Skills’ for the future workforce. Here’s the skills you’re going to need and some tips on how to get them:
COMMUNICATION
It seems obvious, but we’re all going to need to be able to communicate in different ways. Work in the future will be increasingly collaborative and we’ll have the challenge/privilege of working together across teams, organisations, industries and countries. Sounds daunting but don’t worry, The School of Life have got you covered. Their Director Kaj Lofgren said emotional intelligence and self-understanding are the necessary building blocks to better communication and effective collaboration – and that we’re all slightly crazy (loving the validation).
“We all need to appreciate that collaboration is incredibly hard to do well. Throwing people together and expecting magical collaboration to happen is a deeply flawed idea! The simple reason for this is that we are all unique and complex psychological beings – we are all slightly crazy, and that’s ok. Given this universal truth, the first step to good communication and collaboration is not to learn new tools and techniques, it is to better understand ourselves.”
DIGITAL LITERACY
I for one am actually pumped that technology is going to be a bigger part of our lives; bring on the robots . But how the heck can we expect to nail it if we’re missing digital skills? Samsung are onto it. Corporate Vice President, Philip Newton told us:
“Samsung is committed to improving digital literacy and engagement with STEM education for young Australians by leveraging our position as global leader in innovation and working collaboratively with young people and their teachers; we’re excited by the role our technology and expertise has the opportunity to play in this important social issue.”
Right on. We’re holding you to it! Together with Samsung, we run Adappt, an online program that teaches even the most inexperienced beginner how to create an app from scratch.
FINANCIAL LITERACY
With all these future jobs, we’re hoping that everyone will be sufficiently and equally cashed-up – but you don’t want to be clueless with your finances… So in preparation, we chatted to some of our best bank buds and asked them about how they’re boosting financial literacy. You know they’re the founding partner of $20 Boss, right?
“At NAB, we’re committed to supporting young people to have a healthy relationship with money, providing them with the opportunity to learn how to create both commercial and social value, “ they said.
CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
We didn’t actually get to talk to anyone in the creative space, they were all too busy ‘ideating’ or ‘iterating’. However, earlier this year, a whole bunch of educators publicly argued that creativity is just as important as literacy and numeracy in our national curriculum. That’s pretty big.
If you’re keen on learning more about to hone your entrepreneurial skills, oohhhh schucks, do we have just the thing for you. Apply now for the FYA/YSP stream of PwC’s 21st Century Minds Accelerator Program. We’ll get you ahead of the rest.
ENTHUSIASM FOR ONGOING LEARNING
Well, you made it this far in the list – so I’m guessing you’re keen on learning new things. So are our mates over at The Wheeler Centre who said this constant thirst for knowledge is pretty much essential. They’d know. They run debates, talks and workshops for knowledge junkies for a living:
“Enthusiasm for ongoing learning is essential for all people in the workplace regardless of age.”
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
Not only do you need to be enthusiastic about learning, but also… the world! We chatted to some legends who are super enthusiastic about the world, specially Paul Bird, CEO of Australian Volunteers International and he spoke the truth:
“Volunteering overseas is life-changing, it completely transforms your world view. Every Australian should do it!”
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