The job market is constantly changing in response to the global economy and technological advances. Industries change, companies come and go, and we want new, improved products and services. . In the last 50 years, technology has changed the way we work and changed the work environment itself. Keeping up with the fast pace of change is not easy.
But change offers abundant opportunities for those with a good work ethic and willingness to adapt and change with the evolving job landscape. The agile employee will seek out and embrace opportunities for training and development, as well as taking time to build a long-term career plan to help navigate the changing.
Knowledge and skills should change and develop as employers change their expectations. It is more important than ever to develop specialist knowledge and skills to complement work experience. For workers this means opportunities to build relevant and marketable skills for a dynamic environment. It’s about ongoing learning and development and continual reinvention.
New career pathways
The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), backed by the CBI and TUC, has called on employers to take the lead in identifying new career pathways. It identifies five priority actions for employers in the next 20 years:
• leading on skills development
• improving management, job design and employee engagement
• increasing the routes to quality ‘earning and learning’ like apprenticeships
• closing the gap between work and education
• using jobs and progression to measure success not just qualifications.
Ensure you are in a position to create and grasp opportunities. Improve your employment prospects by creating networks, raising your profile and gaining experience. Make sure you are fully informed about the sectors you are interested in working in. Is it an area of growth or retraction? How competitive is the field? What new opportunities might be on the horizon? Familiarise yourself with the most up-to-date labour market information.
