Investing in skills is key to building a resilient green and digital transition. However, the speed of environmental and digital transformations exceeds the pace of changes in education and skills policies and their ability to respond to emerging trends and needs in society and labour markets. Countries should significantly step up their efforts to strengthen initial education systems and provide improved upskilling and reskilling opportunities for lifelong learning to ensure that available skills respond more effectively to labour market needs. This is also essential to ensure that societies can harness the full potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics and the successful transition to a net-zero economy.
As new job profiles and skills requirements emerge on average in OECD countries, only around four in ten adults participate in formal or non-formal learning for work-related reasons. This affects workers’ ability to upskill and reskill, limiting their opportunities for reallocation in sectors and occupations and their ability to enhance the skills they will need to work alongside new technologies to maximise potential productivity gains.
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addition, developments in artificial intelligence and generative robotics will require individuals to develop skills to work alongside AI systems and not just existing technologies. This will be a second challenge for education and training systems. While on average in the 14 OECD countries analysed, less than 1 % of online vacancies required AI-related skills, significant changes in skills demand will occur due to the uptake of AI across the economy.
People from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds are also less likely to acquire skills in a range of skills during formal education, including to develop attitudes and provisions that can support the digital and green transitions and reduce their vulnerability to environmental and technological changes. Policy action is needed to identify vulnerability due to lack of skills to improve both equal opportunities and overall well-being.