14 October 2020

2020 will stand out as a year of uncertainty and disruption, however in all this chaos, we have witnessed the acceleration of opportunities and innovations emerging across the learning and development space. This bodes well for the recognition of work-based learning as a viable and sustainable solution to developing both talent pools and communities.

GAN Global, through its member companies and partners, including the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and Business at OECD, has heeded the call to respond to the impact of COVID-19 on the global development agenda. Extensive research, in country programmes and data are being produced to provide guidance and possible solutions to address the massive impact on the labour market and skilling agenda, and how this will impact countries and communities.

Looking ahead to the future, the pandemic has taught us that a strategic shift is needed across traditional, vocational and higher education systems.  Both of our public and private sector partners agree that creating an optimal Future of Work (FoW) requires a better system than what we currently have in place. Our private sector members are leveraging opportunities to assess and identify solutions to workforce development that address inclusion, equality, and sustainability. We have a rare opportunity at present to build enabling policy and action frameworks to orient current and future workers towards the skills and jobs of the future but this can only be done in partnership with one another and through a bold and responsive agenda for the future. The intent of Future Talk 2020 creates an important platform to drive such solutions.

About the author

Nazrene Mannie, Executive Director, Global Apprenticeship Network (GAN)