Upskilling is a broader workplace trend that had started even before the Pandemic. With the rapid growth of technologies and the consequential growth of various industries, qualified workers become scarce in supply. Due to this, companies train their current employees and help them develop skills that are required to meet the evolution of their jobs. This aids employees to get an earlier promotion to jobs that require more skills. In February 2020, the World Economic Forum predicted that 54% of all employees would require upskilling by 2022. In the past, acquiring a new talent sufficed for companies to fill a skill gap. However, that is hardly feasible today due to the lack of skills in the market, according to Jason Oliver (VP, AT&T Operations in Dallas). AT&T employs around 250,000 workers and spends more than $200 million a year on employee training. Moreover, the expenses for recruitments are enormous compared to upskilling, according to Carrie Duarte from PwC, who has decided to re-train all of their 50,000 employees in the US.

Upskilling is a broader workplace trend that had started even before the Pandemic. With the rapid growth of technologies and the consequential growth of various industries, qualified workers become scarce in supply. Due to this, companies train their current employees and help them develop skills that are required to meet the evolution of their jobs. This aids employees to get an earlier promotion to jobs that require more skills. In February 2020, the World Economic Forum predicted that 54% of all employees would require upskilling by 2022. In the past, acquiring a new talent sufficed for companies to fill a skill gap. However, that is hardly feasible today due to the lack of skills in the market, according to Jason Oliver (VP, AT&T Operations in Dallas). AT&T employs around 250,000 workers and spends more than $200 million a year on employee training. Moreover, the expenses for recruitments are enormous compared to upskilling, according to Carrie Duarte from PwC, who has decided to re-train all of their 50,000 employees in the US.

The massive changes induced by the pandemic are escalating the importance of HR within an organization at titanic scales. Research says that 73% of employees depend on their employers for guidance to deal with the “new normal” and future of work. If the 2008 financial crisis was the time for the CFOs to expand their scope, this pandemic is the chance for the CHROs to do the same. HR has a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to navigate this part of the journey for the near future as new roles continue to emerge. 

The Cognizant Center for Future of Work and Future Workplace tried to understand what exactly will this future look like for HR. Their summit drew up a list of 60 possible HR roles that will evolve in the next 10 years. This brainstorm session considered various aspects such as economic, political, demographic, societal, cultural, business, and technology in this prediction.  Harvard Business Review (HBR) identified five core themes or patterns to these alleged new roles.