More than half of skilled workers in Nigeria and other global economies are concerned that their job skills will become obsolete in the next five years due to rapid technological advancements reshaping industries and workforce demands. This highlights the urgent need for proactive upskilling initiatives to bridge the widening skills gap, as revealed in the report “Navigating Tomorrow: Mastering Skills in a Dynamic Global Labor Market” released during the Global Labor Market Conference.
The report, based on a survey of 14,000 participants across 14 countries, shows a growing anxiety about employability in a technology-driven future. Respondents pointed to the fast pace of technological change as the biggest disruptor of job skills, with globalization also influencing their readiness for the evolving job market.
Concerns about skills becoming obsolete were prominent in countries like Brazil (61%), China (60%), USA (51%), India (55%), Spain (54%), Saudi Arabia (56%), South Africa (57%), Nigeria (59%), UK (44%), and Japan (33%). Automation’s role in industries also raised anxiety levels, with China leading at 36% fearing job displacement by robots or computers, followed by India (26%), Australia and Vietnam (25%), USA and South Africa (24%), and Nigeria (21%).
Seamus McGuinness, a research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute, sees these findings as both a challenge and an opportunity. He emphasized the need for collaboration among governments, businesses, and communities to address the widening skills gap and ensure that technological progress aligns with investments in human potential to prevent worker displacement.
Barriers to upskilling and reskilling efforts include lack of time (40%), financial constraints (39%), and misalignment of educational systems with current skills context (19%). The report underscores the importance of aligning priorities among governments, businesses, and educational institutions to facilitate skill development.
Workers look to businesses (49%) more than governments (20%), NGOs (19%), or unions (12%) to support upskilling and reskilling efforts, reflecting an expectation for employers to prioritize workforce development and invest in human capital.
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