Long Life Learning: Preparing for Jobs that Don’t Even Exist Yet by Michelle R. Weise.
A Fulbright scholar, Michelle holds a Masters and PhD in English from Stanford University and is a former Senior Higher Education Research Fellow at the Clayton Christensen Institute.
She was the former Chief Innovation Officer of Strada Institute for the Future of Work. Today Michelle is principal at her startup Rise and Design.
Michelle is delivering insightful messages for educators, legislators, and anyone interested in the future of jobs across America. While the primary audience is higher education, K12 and legislators should pay attention.
So, everyone above must learn how our global future will require new skills that continue to emerge. AI is certainly hijacking this process even faster that Michelle addressed.
However she does firmly plant the need for educators, industry, and government to collaborate to secure America’s continued economic growth. We must all embrace change at a rapid pace impacting work. In order to stay afloat we must embrace continued learning. So, Long Life Learning reveals the rapid change we are experience today. Simply put the pace has increased since the pandemic. As a result, new learning models are needed starting in K12, expanding into higher education, and culminating in her ‘long life learning’ model.
The pace of change
There will diminishing employment that our grandparents embraced following World War II. They had a ‘cradle to grave’ employment. One company for over 30 years. Our parents had multiple careers, changing jobs 12 times over their career. Today however the ‘Gig’ economy is an example of Michelle’s book. However Gig workers lack benefit and healthcare experienced by their parents and grandparents.
How are you planning for the next 40 years?
You may engage continued education in two, four or six year advanced degrees. However Michelle is illustrating that many today will work for the next 30 to 50 years. The pandemic introduced The Great Resignation. Our country never experienced this shift in the labor market. There was prosperity following world war II. How will Americans of all ages adjust? How will states compete in the new global technology driven economy? Open Talent moves the needle further addressing the new world of hiring.
Large corporations can’t stand still in post pandemic America. Walmart, understand that over 1 million employees are working and juggling complex life demands outside of work launched their Walmart Academies to provide training programs to 8,000 employees weekly. In fact, Walmart provides VR headsets at their retail stores as part of their trining program. Companies need to deploy training (leveling, respelling or upskilling) in order to remain competitive. Our current K12 and Higher Education systems were not engineered for life long learning, an aging workforce that remains working later in life, and hiring systems that have always favored candidates with top-tier credentials.
In conclusion, Michelle is providing insightful lessons to help guide the future of work. This is Michelle’s message to educators and legislators. Education must transform in order to deliver a workforce so companies can continue competing. An insightful must read for K12, Higher Education, and state legislators.