Seemingly contradictory scenarios are playing out in automation and robotics. Companies might be using robots to attend to simple tasks on the production line but they still need talent to operate and repair the machines and to attend to more complex workflows. On the other side of the fence, workers seeing a potential displacement to their jobs, are looking to upskill and to their bank of knowledge so they can move up the career ladder.
In this push-and-pull scenario manufacturing and asset-heavy industries are asking: How do we train the talent we have for the work we want to get done? This is an especially pressing problem given that the global market for robotics is expected to expand at a compounded annual rate of close to 20%.
There’s a barrier between the skills workers possess and the ones that they need and it’s one that upskilling can help fill. That upskilling can take the form of specialty training that focuses on using and repairing specific robots or higher-order education that fills in the gaps of existing knowledge. The best part about honing such talent, experts say, is that incumbent workers already have a baseline know-how of the field and don’t have to start from scratch.
