Our most pressing global challenge : the widening skills gap

Our most pressing global challenge : the widening skills gap

Why I am joining SkyHive

AI will create new possibilities and help solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. Certainly, it will propel us to a new level of human productivity. As we look toward a future where AI and humans coexist and thrive together, I believe SkyHive is poised to be an integral part of this growth.

Joining SkyHive as its President & COO, I look forward to contributing to a future where we continuously enhance our capabilities and foster a culture of lifelong learning. The age of AI isn’t a threat but an opportunity — an opportunity for us all to evolve, learn, and unleash our full potential.

In an era where artificial intelligence and automation are transforming industries and job functions, most companies worldwide — 87 percent — are aware that they either already have a skills gap, or will have one within a few years, according to McKinsey & Company.

The skills gap extends way beyond technical talent. The World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs Report forecasts that 61 percent of global workers will require retraining between now and 2027. As a result, employers are embracing skills-based hiring and micro-credentials to address skilled talent shortages at scale.

Skills are the new currency of the worldwide workforce.

Andrew McAfee, co-founder of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, pointed out the widening gap years ago, “Our technologies are racing ahead but many of our skills and organizations are lagging behind. It’s urgent that we understand these phenomena, that we understand what’s going on, and that we come up with strategies to deal with this.”

Building the Workforce of Tomorrow With AI

Preparing today’s workforce for the future may be one of the most pressing challenges of our time. To face this challenge effectively, organizations must prioritize agility — and technologies that enable organizational agility — or risk being left behind.

Companies are already experiencing the gap between organizational agility and the present reality. 92 percent of business leaders consider agility crucial to success, yet only 27 percent consider themselves highly agile.

If AI advancement is a double-edged sword, one company is harnessing disruptive AI technology to address the widening skill gap to solve the problem it creates: SkyHive.

SkyHive’s targeted solution platform offers an answer to this imminent challenge and is already proving invaluable in tackling the pressing issue of effectively upskilling and reskilling workers.

SkyHive’s predictive capabilities enable strategic workforce planning by anticipating future skills needs, and bridging the gap more efficiently than has ever been possible.

Building upon open-source models, SkyHive’s genAI platform leverages proprietary algorithms trained specifically for labor market analysis. Since 2017, SkyHive’s platform has grown to over 40 terabytes of daily streaming data, 1 billion profiles, 5 billion jobs, and 63 million companies across 200 countries and 86 core languages. In short, it has built the largest, most sophisticated and highly trained model in the world.

Leveraging high-accuracy, real-time data and insights technology, SkyHive equips anyone to better thrive in this new world, and make strategic decisions about the future of their career and their business.

Problem #1: Predicting Future Performance

Only one Fortune current 500 CEO went to an Ivy League school, according to David Kang’s 25-year study at Dartmouth. It turns out, strict alignment and adherence to a job description, or preconceived notions about the importance of certain degrees and experience, show little correlation to actual future performance. Interestingly, discrete skills are key to better predictive workforce planning.

SkyHive’s technology can tell organizations of any size, across every industry what skills they currently have, predict what skills they will need in the future, and build a plan to bridge the gap. It even offers integration with over 10 terabytes of training content from partners.

Nuanced insights, accurate predictions, and effective solutions can create a competitive moat for businesses and governments aiming to bridge the skills gap.

Problem #2: Employee Engagement & Loyalty

A shocking 69 percent of employees say it’s easier to find a job externally rather than at their own company, so they leave. With SkyHive’s AI-powered recruitment features, companies are able to match job applicants to roles based on skills proficiency, looking first inside their own company before going external.

Not only does SkyHive’s approach dramatically improve mobility, but is more inclusive and leads to more diverse and skilled workforces with lower attrition.

SkyHive’s Fortune 500 customers report a 30 percent reduction in time to hire, 50 percent higher onboarding efficiency, and 70 percent higher learning & development efficiency. SkyHive’s solutions have led to a 10 percent increase in gender diversity and decreased time to productivity, hiring, onboarding, and retention costs.

Problem #3: Educating for the Future

And it’s not just about the present workforce. SkyHive can also play a significant role in educating our children for the jobs of tomorrow. SkyHive provides personalized skills-based career development plans based on an individual’s capabilities and interests, paving the way for a future where everyone can thrive in their work.

As Andrew Ng, has aptly pointed out, “In the world of AI, the most valuable knowledge to have is how to learn new things.”

SkyHive in Action

SkyHive is not just shaping the workforce of tomorrow; it’s actively building it today.

Fortune 100 companies and governments have already deployed SkyHive’s platform including Deutsche Bank, Accenture, Best Buy, Merck, Baker Hughes, Schneider, and the European Union, to name a few.

“The most valuable companies 10 years from now will be the ones that have mastered (the application of) artificial intelligence.” — Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI

The age of artifical intelligence presents us all with a transformative opportunity, and those who embrace innovative solutions will position themselves at the forefront of progress, positive change, and productivity. As we prepare for the future, SkyHive continues to pave the way for a future where continuous learning and adaptation become the norm.

(originally published on Medium)

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