As new technology and all it entails continues to reshape the world of work, universities and industry will have to communicate more closely to find the best way ahead. That is the view of John Flato, Senior Vice President of the Future Talent Council (FTC), a Stockholm-basedorganization whose primary goal is to engage business, higher education and political leaders in addressing the looming issues caused by changing technologies.
“When it comes to recruiting graduates, the corporate world will drop universities from their target lists if they are not continuously adapting to meet hiring demands.” John Flato
“In the next decade, there will be great disruption in the world of employment,” Flato says. “Universities and business must plan for these changes now, or there will be serious implications relating to their viability.”
That conclusion is based on research interviews he has conducted with more than 200 leading figures, including top executives, professors, and even a few ministers of labor. The feedback from the higher education community came from experts in 25 different countries.
And while the preliminary findings showed that many universities and employers are indeed making plans to contend with the anticipated disruption, it was also clear that much remains to be done - and that no institution or entity can afford to be left behind.
“We are seeing needs from industry that must be addressed in real time,” US-based Flato says. “This means, training or retraining employees to deal with new and changing issues.”
Tailor-made training
A first step, he suggests, would be for universities to do more in terms of offering short courses, providing continuous education online, and teaming up with partner institutions to launch specialist modules. In his view, educators should also look into more “mini-certification” programs and consider changing degree requirements, so that students can “stack” their coursework and, thereby, adjust more readily to the latest demands of the workplace.
“I have heard senior university administrators speculating about significant changes in areas like health care, accounting, manufacturing, real estate, and the legal profession,” Flato says. “Other fields have been or will be impacted too, which means things will be very different for the next generation.”
In some cases, that is already evident in new work practices and shifting management priorities. For instance, more people can now choose to work remotely, employers increasingly allow flexitime, and the market for services has become more global. But along these changes, there are also concerns.
“Some industries will flourish, while others will perish,” says Flato, adding that respected authorities are estimating that 50 per cent of the regular jobs that will exist a decade from now have not yet been developed. “That said, how do you train students [to do those jobs] and, in the university context, how do you get faculty members to adapt their courses to keep themselves and their graduates relevant?”
Given such uncertainties, he notes, it is essential to keep the lines of communication open - even more than before. Universities already have various advisory boards, most notably in their engineering and business schools. But senior faculty staff must continue to take the initiative in terms of understanding what changes are on the horizon and keeping employers in the picture.
“They must be ahead of the curve and aware of the trends, so they can ‘influence’ the teaching of courses that industry will need,” Flato says. “Otherwise, when it comes to recruiting graduates, longstanding partners in the corporate world will drop universities from their target lists if they are not continuously adapting [and training students] to meet hiring demands.”
Difficult choices
He adds that it is also important to play a bigger role in bringing employers together so they can learn from one another. And, at times, it will be necessary to make tough or controversial decisions about the courses and programs on offer.
This could relate, for instance, to making more modules widely available online or involve embarking on a radical overhaul of the broader syllabus.
“I’m afraid that universities may have to seriously consider changing some subjects might not be what will be needed in the workplace,” says Flato.
“The digital world will have implications for more than just employment. We are already seeing the day-to-day impact on our children, who are losing social skills because everything is so digital. Therefore, universities have to consider workforce needs as companies change. But they will also have to look at the wider political and social aspects, including the impact on immigration, trade matters, labor law and, especially, their own sources of funding.”
The most obvious priority, Flato emphasises, may be to train or retrain society’s workforce. As always, though, the full task goes much further than that.
John Flato
- Senior Vice President of the Future Talent Council (FTC)
- FTC was formed in 2017, and currently has offices in the US, Sweden, and Singapore.