AI and the workforce: Reskill to meet the moment

Key points:

• AI can advance individual careers–as well as entire industries
• The 5 dimensions of AI literacy
• Perception gap: Students overestimate career readiness
• For more news on reskilling with AI, visit eCN’s Teaching & Learning hub

Business leaders continue to see tremendous opportunity in artificial intelligence and its ability to deliver efficiency, savings, and growth to their organization. But while AI’s potential continues to grow, no organization can capitalize on it without an engaged and AI-savvy workforce.

This became apparent in a recent study, which found that 68 percent of employers agree that knowledge of how to use AI is valuable for their employees’ careers–but employer investment in reskilling and upskilling has dropped dramatically, declining by 13 and 10 points, respectively, since 2022. As enthusiastic as business leaders might be about the value of AI, many are overlooking the urgent need to develop their workforce with the skills to put AI into action.

Any business seeking to seize on AI’s power for growth must first recognize that doing so must begin from the ground up, with employees who are not just comfortable with AI, but eager to capitalize on its individual benefits for them and their career. Once employees and leadership align on AI and its potential, entire businesses–and even entire industries–can begin to fully capitalize on this technology and its ability to shape the future.

Skills for every step

In a new age of fast-paced tech and even faster change, AI has many business leaders eager to adapt and take advantage of the opportunities ahead. But many in the workforce question how they’ll fit in, with 53 percent feeling control over their career has either flatlined or even decreased in the past 5 years–and 43 percent predict the same in the coming 5 years. This speaks to the need for AI adoption and workforce reskilling to go hand-in-hand: Businesses need knowledgeable employees capable of capitalizing on AI, while simultaneously they need to take dramatic steps to ensure those employees understand their vision, and that they are not just part of that vision, but a key component for its success.

Fortunately, AI offers a chance for businesses to benefit, as well as help each individual employee play their role. Moreover, most workers understand this: Those leveraging AI see significant gains in autonomy (+12 points), resilience (+5 points), and adaptability (+5 points), strengthening both workplace engagement and career confidence. 

Providing workers with AI tools offers them more than a new way to approach their work. It gives them more confidence and comfort that their career can continue to advance in a new business landscape. Meanwhile, the larger impacts of AI continue to grow–building on the already optimistic outlook on AI that employees have: Over half of workers (56 percent) say AI accelerates skill growth, while 79 percent report it helps close knowledge gaps–proving AI’s potential to future-proof talent.

Smart implementation of AI skills

With AI firmly entrenching itself in the workplace, every employee can begin putting it to work–but how those employees do so will differ, just as every role requires different skills and strengths. This means that a one-size-fits-all approach for AI upskilling won’t do: IT practitioners will need different AI skills than HR professionals, who themselves use AI differently than their colleagues in the sales department, and so on. This will only grow more complex and specific as AI continues to grow. A general presentation on the basics of AI will no longer be enough.

Instead, businesses will need to approach employees’ AI training with individual skills in mind: What does each unique role need from AI, and how can these employees put it into action? By homing in on the particular skills and proficiency levels needed for each role, managers can help every employee grow and fit into the role best suited to them.

For many, these points serve as a reminder for why skills-based hiring has begun to appeal to many managers looking to find new ways to find the right resources with the right skills. But it can also be understood more broadly as a need to shift to focusing on career-relevant skills–not just hiring, but upskilling and reskilling current employees based on what is most needed in the moment.

Aligning on AI, and beyond

I’ve spoken before on how skills can offer more than just a way to get work done: Reskilling can be a powerful tool for ensuring every member of an organization has a shared vision for their company’s future. AI offers huge opportunities up and down the org chart, from workers on the ground using these tools to innovate in their day-to-day, to executives making decisions at the organizational level. This extends beyond tech, with soft skills and other valuable proficiencies continuing to grow alongside individual’s career trajectory as well as businesses’ growth.

This isn’t a hypothetical. The recent study mentioned above also shows that an overwhelming 81 percent of workers see AI’s positive impact on work-life, almost as many as the 89 percent who recognize its productivity improvements–and perhaps most importantly, employers who embrace AI-driven learning can mitigate burnout (44 percent vs. 67 percent) and drive long-term success.

But more than anything, if everyone can use these tools to enhance their careers, it will align goals across an organization and ensure that every member of a team understands how AI can advance their individual careers–as well as their entire industry.

About the Author:

Raghu Krishnaiah is Chief Operating Officer at University of Phoenix, where he oversees all student academic, financial aid, enrollment, technology and career advising.