2.2. Industry Perspective The Fourth Industrial Revolution, demographic change, industrial transitions, dynamic labour market and changes in consumer needs are creating millions of new jobs while also causing job displacement and income inequality (World Economic Forum, 2020a). While digital skills and disruptive technological skills like data science and AI skills have been flagged for jobs of tomorrow, a diverse skills set is in demand by the industry. The new world of work will be both human- and tech-centric (World Economic Forum, 2020a). Developing and enhancing human skills through education, learning and meaningful work is vital for economic success as well as individual and societal wellbeing (World Economic Forum, 2020a). According to the World Economic Forum (2020a), the top 5 emerging job roles in increasing demand are as follows: Data analysts and scientists AI and machine learning specialists Big data specialists Digital marketing and strategy specialists Process automation specialists They feel that their education may be mismatched with the requirements of the industry and employers. However, they are interested in short-term trainings and courses to acquire the skills needed for today’s specialised jobs. Learning new ways to collaborate and work together are important as competences like collaboration, communication, critical thinking and complex problem-solving are becoming critical employability skills (World Economic Forum, 2020a). The ability of companies to grow and adopt new technologies are hindered by the lack of a skilled workforce, a skills gap and the inability to attract specialised talent. As such, universities have to work in closer cooperation with the industry in order to better equip their students with the needs of the industry. By learning together and working with the industry during their studies, e.g., through work-integrated-learning (WIL), students are able to improve their work readiness (Abrahams et al., 2022). Beyond the degrees and skills acquired, companies are also increasingly looking for people who are willing to learn in a job – to develop, upskill and reskill (World Economic Forum, 2020). This aspect was also highlighted in the Gap Report of the SUCSESS project (2020). 15
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