The future of work is today and demands actions. It is necessary to focus the debate on the important and urgent ...
The future of work is today and demands actions. It is necessary to focus the debate on the important and urgent matters for sustainable development.
By Martin Padulla for staffingamericalatina
A few days ago I had the chance of participating in a panel at the Global Employers’ Workshop The Future of Work organized by IOE, CEOE and financed by the European Union. Madrid hosted experts from 37 countries who provided the insight of those who create employment: companies. During the following week, in Genève, ILO organized the tripartite social dialogue on the future of work we want.
Concepts such as flexibility, adaptability, coopetition, unpredictability, disruption, speed, transformation, collaboration, representativeness, leadership, collaboration, artificial intelligence, robotics and diversity were the main ideas discussed.
Conclusions from the work developed in Madrid were delivered to the President of the Spanish Parliament, Ana Pastor, and will be used in the debate of the International Labour Conference, to be developed in June in Switzerland.
5 main areas for action have been determined:
My lecture was focused on Latin America, and was developed during the panel Globalized skills and attitudes for the future.
I started by pointing out the key difference compared with earlier technological revolutions is the speed of transformation enabled by the pace of new learning capacities of machines and the fact that, this time around automation is affecting the service sector intensively.
There certainly is an on demand economy emerging. In Latin America, regardless the appraisal we may have about these concepts, artificial intelligence, robotics, digital intermediation, nanotechnology, 3D printing, are already a reality that have started having an impact on our labour markets. This situation interpellate us, and forces us to build knowledge societies that must receive constant feedback. The dilemma is about what kind of knowledge and how to build it. The key variable is time.
The reason this variable is key is that Latin America is aging. Though it is still young, it is relentlessly growing older. Most Latin American countries are going through a demographic window of opportunity, which may be seized if every member of the working age population (that outnumbers the depending population), indeed starts producing. The opportunity is lost with the lack of access to quality education and a proper business environment.
My first statement aims to unite education, employment and entrepreneurship as something that must be continuous and thought of as parts of the same process, which should be dynamic and permanent in the life of citizens. The future demands that every citizen in the region, particularly young people, is capable of considering themselves as apprentices, workers, and entrepreneurs simultaneously.
Prior to defining how to build the knowledge we need, what are the skills of the future of work, I believe that it is mandatory to set two basic concepts: the equality of opportunities to access quality formal education linked to strategies to retain students, and the promotion and consolidation of the concept Lifelong learning. Kids, youngsters and adults must learn to unlearn in order to relearn.
As regards the skills to develop, it includes those that enable the creation of new technologies and distinguishing the most appropriate use of these new technologies to prioritize sustainable development. Developing STEM skills and programming skills is key, but it is also mandatory to develop soft or emotional skills such creativity, empathy, leadership, design and innovation thinking, teamwork abilities, communication skills, among others. However, this combination is not enough. It is important to include the study of ethics and values to the education of the future. I live in a country where food is produced for over 400 million people, and has little more than 40 million inhabitants. The fact the there are people who suffer from hunger in my country is a moral problem, and not only a political or economic issue. We must be capable of building a future of work with productivity, competitiveness, but also with sustainability and, most importantly, inclusion.
There are people in the world who migrate to look for a job, and jobs that migrate in the pursuit of talent. The challenge is creating real human capital talent, pertinent talent. We need to quickly become efficient bridging the skills gap to lure the future of work. Strengthening our professional training network, developing apprentices systems, increasing professional practices, professionalizing public employment services, and linking them to private employment services. Enabling the access to the formal labour market for those looking for their first job and for those going through transitions. Latin American countries must ratify ILO Convention 181 in order to have private employment services that function as such. I also stated that the Gig Economy, On Demand Economy and Sharing Economy are realities in Latin America and that we need smart regulations for these realities. Understanding the dynamic of labour in the 21st century, promoting nonstandard contacts, exploring initiatives such as the portability of social benefits and universal income. Generating an environment of reforms that enable societies to absorb the impact of technological change and seize the window of demographic opportunity.
If the region manages to quickly train youth and create a proper business environment, with modern regulatory frameworks, it has a real chance of development. If the conditions for productive investments are not developed, if regulatory framework remain functional for a reality of work that does no longer exist, and training of skills based on the demand is achieved, talent developed here will be functional for other regions’ economies, either in an on-site or remote way.
The challenge is to expand the connection between education and the business world, articulating public and private employment services, and fostering entrepreneurship to lure and create a larger number of companies linked to technology and innovation. There currently are nine unicorns in the region, young technological companies valued for over 1,000 million dollars that create quality employment.
A dispersed, distributed and remote workforce, combining different forms of work relationships, working conditions and locations, is increasing. The traditional 9 to 5 workday is becoming less usual as more and more members of the workforce perform remotely
Digital platforms connect individuals all over the world with work opportunities. Young innovative firms have been responsible for almost half of the Jobs created in OECD countries. Countries such as Argentina, Chile, Peru and Colombia are doing a great job in the promotion of entrepreneurship. However, there still is a long way to go in the promotion of different forms of employment. The idea of work directly linked to the open ended contract remains, even though this “standard” form of employment only represents 27% of the world’s employment. In the real world, it is no longer standard.
In a region with 134 million informal workers, with 27 million youngsters who work without any kind of labour contract nor rights, diversity in the forms of formal employment is an urging need in order to develop a more dynamic labour market, while tackling unemployment and informality.
The statement in Madrid was clear: in order to have a future of work, we need to start working right now for the future.
About Martin Padulla
Founder and Managing Director of staffingamericalatina. Martin Padulla is Sociologist (USAL), MBA (UCA) and labour markets expert. He published “Flexible Work in South America” and “Regulatory framework for private employment agencies in Latin America” two books about the new realities of work in Latin America.
Follow Martín Padulla on Twitter: @MartinPadulla
mpadulla@staffingamericalatina.com
About staffingamericalatina
It is the unique independent digital media specialized in Latin American´s labour markets.
Produce and spread contents, researches and developments about issues such us Employability, Youth Employment, Training for Employment, Decent Work, Private Employment Agencies, Active policies for employment, Teleworking, Public and private actions for the creation of decent work, Green Jobs and Corporate Social Responsibility.
It is the meeting point for companies, providers, candidates, service´s companies, academics and independent professionals of Latin America.
Follow staffingamericalatina on Twitter: @staffingal
