In a report, the organisation also revealed that there is considerable scope for automation affecting the nature of jobs and businesses.
Employers and businesses worldwide are increasingly encountering challenges in locating, hiring and retaining talent, according to a new survey by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
In India, 53 per cent of the businesses are finding it harder to recruit people with the skills they need, the ILO said in a report titled `Changing business and opportunities for employers and business organizations.’
Why this is happening? Education systems are partially responsible for the dearth of capable and skilled workers, the ILO report said.
It noted that educational systems in many countries are poorly equipped to adapt to changes in the workplace due to various reasons like inaction in policy, a lack of funding and lack of coordination with the private sector.
About 78 per cent of business executives surveyed indicated that updating the school and education curriculum to match the economy’s needs would provide them with the skilled employees they need, the report added.
Automation affecting the nature of jobs
As per the ILO report, a large proportion of businesses in the United States of America (61 per cent), Brazil (70 per cent), India (66 per cent) and Germany (65 per cent) agreed that businesses are looking for quite different skills in new recruits than three years ago.
The report also revealed that there is considerable scope for automation affecting the nature of jobs and businesses.
“Businesses in Africa, Asia and Latin America reported that automation has already affected low skilled jobs, with 53 per cent, 49 per cent and 47 per cent of executives respectively saying they have already experienced a noticeable impact,” ILO stated in its report.
The potential for automation is the highest in Japan where 55.7 per cent of the work activities could be automated by adapting current technology. In India, survey respondents feel that 51.8 per cent of the work can be automated.
(With inputs from The Hindu)
