The growing movement to help workers

More companies are encouraging employees to disconnect after work to improve digital balance.

If Carly Taylor returned to in-person work, she had rules. She would stop answering Slack and email after work. In the digital age, she went “above and beyond” but now believed in her right to log off.

Taylor dislikes virtual work’s lack of healthy boundaries for when the workday ends. “But I thought that was worth it for the freedom of working from anywhere.”

Working remotely has blurred the digital line between work and life. Email was checked by 81% of remote workers outside of work hours in 2023, according to Buffer. 63% checked email on weekends, and 48% worked after hours.

Burnout rates are rising. Employees need breaks from screens for professional and digital detox. This balance is difficult to achieve.

A new world requires new skills. That prospect excites many because it represents progress. Most CEOs and leaders we talk to agree in principle. However, they say they are not ready. Rapid, widespread, and impactful technological change is transforming their businesses and society. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last January, we met with over 150 business leaders. Most conversations ended with the same question: how will we prepare our people?

This is a question PwC has also considered. We started implementing the measures we think organisations around the world will need. We’ve created programs to teach our employees digital skills. We started upskilling in the US and are planning to offer it to everyone.

Upskilling means giving our employees the knowledge, tools, and skills they need to use advanced and ever-changing technologies in the workplace and daily life.

Not everyone must code, but many must understand and manage AI, data analytics, autonomous vehicles, and other emerging and future technologies. Every company needs leaders who can inspire and empower others to learn and make good technology decisions.

Over the next four years, PwC will invest $3bn in upskilling. Training and client and community support technologies will be our main investments.

We are drawing on our own experience, that of other organisations we have worked with, and the growing body of knowledge about adult learning and digital capability-building. The initiative, ‘New world. New skills.’, supports our network’s mission to build trust and solve important issues.

PwC found that technological change will disrupt or eliminate one in three jobs in the next decade. This could affect nearly half of low-skilled and a third of semi-skilled jobs. The World Economic Forum estimates that upskilling 1.37m threatened US workers will cost US$34bn, or US$24,800 per person. Multiply that by 100 to include the world, and the numbers are staggering.

However, inaction will cost more. Already, millions of jobs are unfilled due to a global skills gap. Not enough skilled people can be recruited. The only option is to help the existing workforce, those excluded, those starting their careers, and the next generation gain the digital age knowledge and skills society needs.

Technological challenge
Upskilling goes beyond teaching people how to use new devices. That device may be obsolete next year. Upskilling involves learning to think, act, and thrive in a sustainable digital world.

The rise of surveillance devices is changing ethics and governance. Advances in genetic engineering and AI raise questions about human nature. The ‘digital divide’ between rich and poor has raised questions about fair economies. Digital media has exacerbated social fracturing, making information suspect. Climate change and advances in energy and mobility will force us to rethink environmental sustainability.

Each nation’s upskilling solution must take into account its demographics, tech maturity, and economy. A territory with a developed economy, an ageing population, and a strong service sector will have different priorities than a developing, mostly rural economy with a mostly under-30 population. Despite their differences, all countries have a growing working population that needs to improve their skills and knowledge.

Upskilling in action
We’ve always used new technology and innovation in learning and development at PwC. In 2017, we began intensive upskilling and focused on effective solutions.

We encourage employee-led innovation because letting people choose what to learn works better. We encourage our employees to use their new skills to improve their jobs and client work. Some learning happens in classrooms, but most of it happens through self-paced multimedia and simulation game modules or projects where teams build and share new tools.

The growing movement to help workers

By knl9j

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