As technology continues to disrupt industries and new skills develop to adapt to a constantly changing world, forward looking organisations are bent on recruiting youths with digital skills and equipping their employees with new skills that are a necessity for the work of the future.
Considering that digitalization would lead to disruption of major work roles and the emergence of new business structures that would lead to entrance of new players, Tek Experts Nigeria, a global provider of business and IT support services from across the world, recently gathered together key Information Technology (IT) and Human Resource (HR) professionals at a forum, to discuss the future of work, examine the challenges that lie ahead in the world of work and identify credible, effective solutions.
The forum, themed ‘Preparing for the Future of Work’, also analyzed Nigeria’s preparedness for the Future of Work and touched on several areas including what changes are in store for the workplace, the workforce, and the nature of work itself, and discussed if Nigerian workers have the necessary skills prepared to take Nigerian organisations to the next level of work.
Guest speakers at the forum include Nkemdilim Begho, CEO, Future Software Resources; Aruosa Osemwegie, Senior Manager, People and Organisation, PwC; Tosin Faniro-Dada, Head of Start-Ups, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund and Tayo Olosunde, Executive Director, mindthegap.ng / Author of Youthnomics.
Speaking on the topic, Lars Johannisson, country Manager, Tek Experts Nigeria, explained that with a workforce of 85 million people, Nigeria is home to an enormous labour market and this talent must be upskilled and honed in order to compete successfully in the 4th Industrial Revolution.
“The Future of Work is upon us and we must now take urgent action at all levels; government, industry and individual, to ensure the Nigerian workforce always has the right skills and the ability to adapt in real time and succeed in the direction that work is going. Work as we know it is currently being disrupted and the advent of AI, and many technological innovations has changed the way we work and at Tek Experts we recognize that this is the direction the world is taking thus the need for adequate preparations to be made.”
He continued by saying, “we currently hire over 1,000 young IT talent which makes us one of the largest and fastest growing IT company in Nigeria. Therefore, we have a massive responsibility as a business to train our staff and we recognize the need to upskill our talent, reinvigorate their work experiences and trainings so they can not only deliver top notch customer experiences, but also operate optimally in the place of work”.
Also speaking at the forum, Aruosa Osemwegie, senior manager, people and organisation, PwC, said “Discussions such as this are necessary to have in this time and I commend Tek Experts for deeming it fit to facilitate this conversation and positioning itself at the fore front of this discussion to proffer solutions and make recommendations to the business world.”
“The fact in Nigeria today, and this is what we’ve discussed at length at this forum, is that we urgently need to upgrade our education and our talent development programs or else we risk sleep walking into a future of work where a whole generation of workers lacks the right skills or the opportunity to adapt to change. This forum is the first step in a long line of things we need to do to prepare ourselves for the 4th Industrial Revolution” he concluded.
Nkemdili Begho, CEO, Future Software Resources said employees must make it their duty to understand that new skills are developing, some old ones are not needed anymore, but in all, the culture of the environment has to be considered.
“Communication styles are changing. As employees, we must understand the way young people communicate, but adopting too much of foreign culture is also a problem, so it is about striking a balance and finding what works,” she said.
