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The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Theres a seismic shift reshaping the labor market, with tremors across government and business. The latest signal of this transformation is the announcement of the Skills-First Workforce Initiative, a collaboration of top employers aimed at making the skills needed for jobs more transparent. It follows an announcement from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who on April 2nd unveiled his Master Plan for Career Education, furthering Californias efforts on skills-based education and hiring. That means candidates are encouraged to apply for roles based on their skills and previous experience, rather than what can be an arbitrary marker of capability: the college degree. The Skills-First Workforce Initiative and Newsoms plan build on the momentum of many other states, like Colorado and Arkansas, and the federal governments Chance to Compete Act, which makes skill-based hiring a requirement for federal agencies. All together, these initiatives and announcements send a clear message: The future of work has arrived. Its a future that requires a new strategic imperative for workers and organizational leadersthe need for continuous upskilling. Skills are the new currency A growing number of companies and other state governments are already reaping the benefits of skills-based hiring by focusing on talent and potential rather than formal education. These leaders understand the potential of skills-based hiring to diversify the talent pool, foster innovation, and prepare organizations for the complexities of the future. According to the National Governors Association’s recent findings, over half of U.S. state governments have policies that encourage skill-based hiring, and states that adopted these policies have seen faster growth in job postings that dont have degree requirements. With more organizations adopting skills-based hiring approaches, and even leveraging skill assessments to promote internally, skills are becoming the currency of the modern workforce. Adapting to this new era of skills requires an essential mindset and strategy shift for employees and organizations. Employees need to embrace a mindset of continuous upskilling, while organizations need to give their employees the time and resources to sharpen those new skills. For those at the cutting edge, this means starting the journey to becoming a skills-based organization. Become a skills-based organization A skills-based organization prioritizes the skills and capabilities of candidates and employees over their formal educational background. According to our research at Udemy, over 80% of employees report that their companies are beginning to consider implementing skills-based approaches (such as skills-based hiring), and 75% of organizations have already made changes to support this transition. The key steps to becoming a skills-based organization extend beyond hiring practices. To become skills-based organizations, companies need to create structured skill taxonomies. These are frameworks that identify and categorize the skills necessary for various roles within the organization. At Udemy, we are developing a skills taxonomy to map the competencies essential for different career paths, enabling targeted learning and development. Focusing on skills instead of traditional credentials like degrees or job titles has been proven to cultivate a workforce that is both more agile and diverse. According to Deloitte, nearly two-thirds of companies implementing skills-based strategies experience enhanced outcomes compared to those that don’t. Such organizations benefit from greater workforce flexibility, facilitating quick and adaptive reactions to unexpected market shifts. When skills development and acquisition are prioritized, employees become versatile, readily transitioning to new tasks or roles as needs arise, without being limited by predefined job titles or descriptions. This agility enables organizations to swiftly address emerging challenges by strategically reallocating talent where it’s most needed. AI supercharges the change These shiftstransitioning to a skills-based organization and adopting new mindsetswon’t happen overnight. However, AI can significantly accelerate the process, and it is becoming even more critical as companies feel pressure to reskill their workforces. We are entering an era where AI integrates into every facet of learning, simplifying, and accelerating skill acquisition. One way that AI can transform workplace training is by enabling adaptive learning systems that customize educational content based on learner progress. This personalized approach can enhance learning efficiency and engagement, allowing learners to access the knowledge they need more effectively. AI-enabled learning systems have the power to bridge gaps between current employee knowledge and needed skills, making them a dominant force in the future of education. Our role as leaders The movement towards a skills-based economy is not just a fleeting moment. It’s the dawn of a new era in workforce development. Announcements like Newsoms signal a move toward a more equitable and efficient labor market. As leaders, we must champion these changes within our organizations, ensuring that we create an environment where continuous learning and skills development take center stage. By prioritizing skills over degrees, we’re opening doors to a broader range of individuals, enriching our organizations with diverse perspectives and experiences. Together, we can build a more inclusive and dynamic workforce equipped for the challenges and opportunitis that lie ahead. Hugo Sarrazin is CEO of Udemy.
Category:
E-Commerce
The family of a man killed in a 2021 road rage incident in Arizona used artificial intelligence to portray the victim delivering his own impact statement during his killers sentencing hearing, according to local news reports. Christopher Pelkeys sister, brother-in-law, and their friend used AI technology to recreate his likeness, reportedly drawing from video clips recorded while he was alive. It is believed to be one of the firstif not the very firstinstances of an AI-generated victim impact statement being used in court. To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me: It is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances, the AI version of the 37-year-old said in the video. In another life, we probably couldve been friends. I believe in forgiveness and in God who forgives. I always have, and I still do. Judge Todd Lang appreciated the video, according to Fox 10 News. Prosecutors requested a 9.5-year sentence for Horcasitas; ABC 15 reported that he was ultimately sentenced to more than a decade for manslaughter. The team putting together the video reportedly pulled from different tools in order to make it happen. “There’s no tool out there that you can just go and say, ‘Here’s a voice file. Here’s a picture. Please make it come to life. And this is what I wanted to say.’ So they’re scrounging and using this tool and that tool and this tool and this script and this audio and this image and trying to mash it all together and make a Frankenstein of love,” Pelkey’s sister Stacey Wales said in an interview with Fox 10.
Category:
E-Commerce
British entrepreneur Emma Grede, who founded the women’s bodywear company Skims along with her husband, Jens Grede, and Kim Kardashian, is getting a lot of attention after dismissing work-life balance as a priority for employers. “Work-life balance is your problem, not the employer’s responsibility,” Grede said on The Diary of a CEO podcast on Monday, hosted by British entrepreneur Steven Bartlett, which features interviews with CEOs and other successful leaders. “Look, I have four kids, and I had to figure out how I would think about my own ambition balanced with my parenting. That’s the truth,” she continued. While they say that all PR is good PR, Grede’s claim is sure to be controversial among leaders, employees, and employers. She also added that she viewed the priority negatively in the hiring process. “When somebody talks to me about their work-life balance in an interview process, I’m, like, ‘Something is wrong with you,’ ” Grede told Bartlett, calling it a red flag to bring up in a job interview, and recommending that prospective employees not ask about it. However, Grede’s comments feel problematic in the context that Skims is marketed primarily to women, who still bear a heavier load than men in balancing work and family, despite progress in recent decades in the workplace, according to the Pew Research Center. In fact, women are more likely than men to report experiencing work-life balance challenges, with 60% of women saying it’s a significant issue, versus 47% of men. That’s because women continue to shoulder a greater amount of work at home, both in childcare and housework, and continue to be paid less in the workplace for the same job on average. Furthermore, a 2023 Pew report that researched opposite-sex marriages found that even when earnings are similar, husbands spend more time on paid work and leisure, while wives devote more time to caregiving and housework. The research found that even in so-called “egalitarian marriages,” wives are still spending more than double the amount of time on housework than their husbands (4.6 hours per week for women versus 1.9 hours per week for men), and almost two hours more per week on caregiving, including tending to children. Husbands, meanwhile, spend roughly three hours more per week than their wives on paid work, and three-and-a-half hours more on leisure activities. Some experts also disagree with Grede’s view. Psychologist Katina Sawyer told Business Insider that considering work-life balance a skill reinforces “flawed thinking,” and “allows employers to ignore the role their expectations play in employee burnout and to shift the blame onto individuals when performance suffers.” Fast Company has reached out to Grede at Skims for comment. Speaking of podcasts, Grede also happens to be launching her own on Tuesday, called Aspire With Emma Grede, featuring “honest and unfiltered” conversations with business moguls, starting with two episodes with actress and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow and the former chair of Starbucks, Mellody Hobson. “Aspire is my way of scaling mentorship,” Grede told People magazine. “Theres so much advice out there, but most of it doesnt reflect the reality of what it actually takes to build something or change your life.”
Category:
E-Commerce
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