The document emphasizes the necessity of lifelong learning in the face of increasing automation and changing job markets, highlighting the roles of educational institutions, businesses, and government agencies. It notes that 54% of working Americans believe developing new skills is essential throughout their careers. Successful coordination among these three areas is crucial for retaining talent and fostering a competitive workforce.

1. Life- Long Learning: A necessity in an
increasingly automated world
Discussion Document
March 2017

2. Contents
01
02
03
04
05
Executive Summary
Global Trends
Role of Educational Institutions
Role of Corporates
Role of Government Agencies

3. Executive Summary
• Increasing automation and structural changes in job
market have accentuated the need for a strong
continuous learning ecosystem- supported by 3 pillars
• Schools, businesses as well as government agencies
have an important role to play in re-skilling and life
long learning
• For businesses, it critical to retaining and re-skilling
talent and to maintain & grow their competitive
advantage
• Countries that develop a well- coordinated ecosystem
across schools, businesses and government agencies
will be emerge more competitive in the near future
Life Long
Learning

4. The traditional career path has been disrupted
• While globalization was largely based on labor arbitrage, automation does
away with hiring replacements in lower cost location and is quickly
expanding from proof of concepts to deployment across various functions
• This disruption is expected to further accelerate with estimates of the
elimination due to automation over the next 6-8 years ranging from 30% to
50%.
• This combined with structural change in hiring over the past decade,
specifically the rise of the gig economy and temp workforce is affecting
workers across age groups, including those yet about to join the workforce
(students); mid-career workers and those approaching retirement but
wanting to work longer.

5. The importance of life long learning is understood
across age groups
54% The % of all working Americans think it will be
essential to develop new skills throughout their
working lives
61% The % of working Americans under 30 who
think it will be essential to develop new skills
throughout their working lives
93% The % of millennials willing to spend their own
money on training
Source: Pew Surveys 2016, Economist Magazine Jan 2017

6. Tackling this challenge requires co-ordination
across three areas
1. Educational institutions: Which lay a strong foundations
for those preparing to join the workforce
2. Businesses: Which re-skill/ re-train their employees to
maintain competitive advantage
3. Government agencies: Provide career upskilling options to
their citizens across age groups through public- private
partnerships allowing them to re-tool, upskill and also
switch careers

7. 1. Educational institutions lay a strong foundation
• 1 in 3 jobs that students in middle school will
apply for do not exist
• Schools need to lay a foundation that allows
students to be
• Curious
• Seek practical applications
• Challenge the status quo
• Be open to new perspectives
• These will help students be prepared for the
new world of work and not be weighed down
for “pre-loaded” knowledge

8. 2. Corporates are also exploring initiatives such
as part time degrees or Nano courses
• Some businesses implemented a learning program option
for their employees for part time degrees or Nano
programs.
• In some companies, employees enrolling in the program
get compensated to a certain amount for part time
degrees
• In other instances companies have tied up with other
companies have tied with MOOCs (Massive Open Online
Courses) such as Udacity, Coursera to develop nano
degrees and is also developing course curriculums in
partnership with some universities

9. 3. Government agencies also play a critical role
• Singapore is leading the way with its “SkillsFuture”
initiative
• As part of this initiative, the Singapore government
has asked employers to detail specific changes by
industry that they anticipate over a 3-5 year horizon
along with the implication and skill sets that would be
needed
• These responses are used to develop “industry
transformation maps”. Under the SkillsFuture
initiative, every Singaporean receives a S$500 credit
which can be used to pay for any training courses
catered by 500 providers
• The program caters to citizens across age groups and
helps citizens up-skill, augment their skill sets and
allows them to switch careers

10. Thank You