Recent advances in technology are dictating the curricula requirements of the future, to ensure that workforces are sufficiently digitally literate to cope with the evolution of labour markets and the replacement of manually skilled jobs with more technologically focused ones.

The scope and purpose of education is changing too, as long-term employment along a single career path is diminishing and low-skilled work is increasingly being replaced by automation.  Upskilling and re-training to support employees in gaining new skills will be a key factor in alleviating potentially high levels of unemployment and encouraging a less divided socioeconomic society of the future.

Over the age of 25, the percentage of people involved in active education drops significantly, from 84% to 45% as calculated by the World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Human Capital Report. Public and private entities need to improve their understanding of the typical work and employment lifecycle to identify when people will likely have a need to refresh their skills. The resources required in order to facilitate continuous learning require cohesion between the public and private sectors, as well as investment by corporations into more specialised skills training.