Such is the technology enabled pace of change, you’d need a good old fashioned crystal ball to predict where future skills gaps will emerge.
“It’s one of these areas we know from past experience that is very difficult to predict,” says Ruth Freeman, a director of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the national foundation for investment in scientific and engineering research.
“If we go back five or 10, years the jobs we thought people would be doing did not include some which we didn’t foresee at all, like social media influencer, drone operator, podcaster, or blockchain analyst. So we have to be a bit humble about that because change is coming so quickly. But what we can try and see is trends,” she says,
Keeping abreast of trends is the best way for those still in education to make informed choices about both careers and research areas.
“We know high level skills will be really important, including deeptech ones in areas such as ICT, digital working and life sciences. The need for vaccines and health management is going to be around for a long time to come so the need will increase for high level skills there.”
But there will also be growing need for practical skills too, she points out.
“There is a recognition that we don’t all need to go through university, particularly in relation to things like climate change, where we are going to have to create a housing and a building stock that is much more sustainable and energy efficient. That will require a huge amount of work.”
While technology will play a huge role in our future, there are also activities that cannot be done by technology that will also be important, she points out. “That means developing skills such as communications, empathy, person to person skills. Things we don’t associate with science will be increasingly important too.”
Stem (science technology engineering and maths) skills gap still exist too, she adds, and need to be plugged to help drive the life sciences, engineering and digital technology sectors.
“Young people have a huge desire to do jobs that have a positive impact. They can do that by undertaking research in areas like science and engineering and by seeking out those companies that are providing solutions to the significant challenges facing us,” he points out.
Just prior to the pandemic SFI launched its Centres for Research training, which takes a different approach to tooling-up the researchers of tomorrow.
Where the traditional route sees a PhD student working under a single academic for four years to undertake their research, this new model, which operates in six different centres and has places for 700 graduate students, operates almost like a class. The PhD candidates come together for some taught parts of the programme and as well as undertaking their individual research.
“They get the benefit of all those transferable skills such as communications, securing public engagement for their work, an ability to think about stakeholders of their work,” she explains.
There are also internships provided as part of the process. “It’s a PhD with work experience which result in people highly trained up in researching, very valuable graduates which companies should be lining up to hire,” she says.
Skillnet Ireland, the national agency for workforce learning, is also working with organisations to help them cultivate the skills they are likely to need now and in the near future.
That also means working with multinationals based here to help them grow their own R&D activities. Very many such foreign direct investment (FDI) companies which operate manufacturing functions have an opportunity to develop R&D capabilities too, for example.
“In the context of FDI, a key opportunity is to further develop the capacity of executives as to how they express their R&D ambition, translate it into a plan, develop R&D capacity, and how they navigate their global corporate structures to successfully secure investment for their Irish operation,” explains Dave Flynn, a director of Skillnet Ireland and part of its executive team.
For example, Skillnet Ireland has worked with the Irish MedTech Association to develop a seven-step guide, with upskilling programmes, to help the Medtech sector realise it’s R&D ambitions.
In relation to the indigenous sector, the vast majority of which are small and medium sized businesses, there is a growing need for people with the kind of blended skills that Ruth Freeman refers to above.
“We will need more people who have a hybrid skillset with combines research ability with industry knowledge and business acumen,” agrees Flynn.
“That means the type of people who can engage in blue sky research but also identify the commercial application of that research as well as employees who can help a company leverage the outputs of universities and research centres and integrate those products within the business.”
Remote work
A versatile workforce is a key enabler in helping businesses to become more sustainable and embrace technology adoption generally, he points out.
Many employers are set to rapidly digitalise working processes, including a significant expansion of remote work, according to the World Economic Forum.
“Evidence suggests that businesses will increasingly prioritise creativity, initiative, resilience and flexibility, and workers who proactively sharpen these abilities are more likely to boost their careers,” he points out.
At the same time, as well as nurturing uniquely human skills, businesses must devise longer-term initiatives that strengthen wellbeing and a sense of employee connection and how they translate ideas into new or improved products, processes and services, he adds.
The challenge for business owners and managers is how to get the knowledge they need to make the journey towards a more sustainable business, and to make smart investment decisions. “They also need employees who have the technical ability, and the industry knowledge, to help them make those transitions,” says Flynn.
