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Learning new skills is key for the transient 21st century workforce, says survey

Over the next two decades millions of Britons are expected to walk away from their professions midway through their working lives, swapping their occupations for completely new careers.

An analysis by City & Guilds, the UK vocational awarding body, has identified that five million (20 per cent) of the working population will be planning a career change in 2025 - double the current 2.5 million per year.

Technology will play a key role in this, as the development of online education means people can re-train for a new career while holding down their current job. Rising life expectancy and pension under-funding will also have a significant impact, inevitably resulting in longer working lives and different career options. No longer able to retire during their 60's, many employees will look at ways to top-up their income during their retirement.

Equally influential though, will be the uncertainty of not knowing which career will be valuable in the future as half of the roles that exist now may become extinct in years to come. This was substantiated in a previous study by City & Guilds, which identified the ‘cold' jobs such as postal workers, milkmen and estate agents.

Keeping up with these societal changes will create a transient society of workers and the City & Guilds research identified that the average British employee starting work in two decades time will undertake 19 different jobs - whether internal promotions, structural change within the organisation or new careers - during their working lifetime.

But it's not just job and career changes that will shape the future labour market as a trend for parallel careers will also become the norm. While many people (1.2 million) currently undertake two or more jobs at the same time, in the space of 20 years this figure is set to increase dramatically to 2.4 million, 8.5 per cent of the total working population.

Supply and demand is one of the triggers to the adoption of second or even third careers but so is the desire to broaden horizons and learn new skills. One of the key drivers though will be relationship breakdown, as this ‘life shock' will encourage people to re-assess their priorities and what they want to do in life.

Chris Humphries, Director General at City & Guilds, said: "A job for life has long gone and in the future it will be commonplace for a professional such as an architect to hold down a job as say a chef, at the same time. This won't be considered as moonlighting but simply pursuing two careers simultaneously.

""The trend for job and career diversity will grow considerably and employers can expect to see CVs landing on their desks from candidates who possess a broad range of skills. This will inevitably mean companies start to judge potential employees on their transferable skills rather than just their sector experience. As a result it will become increasingly important for individuals to extend their skills so that they can compete with other candidates."

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