What has COVID-19 Changed on the Skills Agenda?
While the European Union is supporting countries to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 via the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII+), we have gathered some tips on how your company can start building a future-proof workforce. If you would like to hear first-hand from companies what they are doing to ensure life-long learning & talent transformation, register to the webinar “New Career Paths” on June 18.
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is profoundly affecting the world of work. Besides posing a threat to the public health, COVID-19 is disrupting the livelihood and socio-economic wellbeing of millions of people on the planet. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) predicts that 195 million full-time workers could lose their job as a result of the crisis. At the same time, McKinsey estimates that, just in Europe, up to nearly 59 million jobs (26 percent of total employment) are potentially at risk of reductions in hours of pay, temporary furloughs, or permanent layoffs.
Faced with this challenge, we asked our corporate members what measures they were implementing to build a resilient workforce. Straight from the Future of Work webinar “Staff and Skills Retention in Times of Crisis” here are three key takeaways on how to build a future-proof workforce:
1. Upskilling employees is more urgent than ever
COVID-19 has prompted many companies to accelerate their processes of digitalisation. However, to remain competitive, it is important to ensure life-long employability of their workforce. In the project Upskill 4 Future, CSR Europe is integrating key learnings from the ongoing health crisis for a work plan aimed at driving continuous training via a company’s HR process.
2. Strong corporate sustainability culture matters
Companies with strong sustainability corporate culture, purpose and strategy towards their employees and supply chains had better integrated, more inclusive responses. Maria Alexiou, Group CSR Director of Titan Cement, highlighted how “sustainability thinking” can contribute to build up company’s resilience, making it more apt to mitigating the negative impact of a crisis. Where to start? With a growth mindset. According to Carlos Delgado Conde, HR Planning & Development Director at Cemex Europe, if you start embedding a growth mindset in normal times, you will be able to leverage and benefit from a life-long learning culture and digital tools in times of crisis.
3. You can count on the EU
While the impact of COVID-19 on the European economies is being closely monitored, the Commission has activated the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII+). Andriana Sukova, Deputy Director General at Commission's Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, remarked how they are supporting the setup of short-term work scheme that can be funded via the EU structural funds.
What comes next?
In light of accelerated digitalisation and workforce transformation, how can companies make career paths more inclusive to everyone? By looking beyond education and experience, focusing on skills to find best-fit candidates, and removing unconscious bias from the career transformation process are necessary to reinvent their organisation. Register to the event “New Career Paths”, on June 18. CSR Europe will connect companies to exchange best practices, enhance awareness and come up with concrete actions to upskill employees for the current and future positions and change mindset towards new career paths.