{"id":310549,"date":"2021-07-28T16:50:47","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T13:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/stop-spending-cash-on-giving-workers-skills-thatll-be-useless-in-a-decade\/"},"modified":"2021-07-28T16:50:47","modified_gmt":"2021-07-28T13:50:47","slug":"stop-spending-cash-on-giving-workers-skills-thatll-be-useless-in-a-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/stop-spending-cash-on-giving-workers-skills-thatll-be-useless-in-a-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"#Stop spending cash on giving workers skills that\u2019ll be useless in a decade"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af5cebb6a944\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af5cebb6a944\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/stop-spending-cash-on-giving-workers-skills-thatll-be-useless-in-a-decade\/#How_factories_are_going_digital\" >How factories are going digital<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/stop-spending-cash-on-giving-workers-skills-thatll-be-useless-in-a-decade\/#Leveling_up_who\" >Leveling up who?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Stop spending cash on giving workers skills that\u2019ll be useless in a decade<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\u201cThis government is obsessed with skilling up our population,\u201d said Boris Johnson in his <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/the-prime-ministers-levelling-up-speech-15-july-2021\">recent speech<\/a> on \u201cleveling up\u201d. There is still a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/what-actually-is-levelling-up-what-we-know-about-boris-johnsons-agenda-and-what-we-dont-164886\">fair amount<\/a> of uncertainty about exactly what the UK prime minister\u2019s plan to level up the regions will involve, but manufacturing and skills seem close to the heart of it.<\/p>\n<p>The government is trying to achieve a renaissance in vocational education with its industry-focused <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/introduction-of-t-levels\/introduction-of-t-levels\">T-level<\/a> courses for students, \u201cSkills Bootcamp\u201d retraining programs for adults, and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fenews.co.uk\/fevoices\/68373-press-release-government-to-publish-levelling-up-white-paper#!\/ccomment-comment=307\">increased funding<\/a> for further education in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>. Together with the recent announcement of a new <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-tyne-57962364\">Nissan \u201cmega-factory\u201d<\/a> in Sunderland, some <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/education\/2019\/sep\/30\/education-secretary-announces-plans-for-vocational-training\">might argue<\/a> that the UK is finally becoming a high-skill vocational manufacturing economy to rival Germany and Japan.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the world is moving on. In the factories of the future, the role of skills will be dramatically different. We are in the early stages of what is known as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/bernardmarr\/2018\/09\/02\/what-is-industry-4-0-heres-a-super-easy-explanation-for-anyone\/?sh=2a960fa09788\">industry 4.0<\/a>: digital manufacturing that attempts to automate and regulate every aspect of production, including the human. There is little sign that the UK government is thinking about this, or what it means for the youngsters looking to work in manufacturing in the future.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_factories_are_going_digital\"><\/span>How factories are going digital<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/staging-us.sagepub.com\/en-us\/nam\/the-sage-handbook-of-learning-and-work\/book267999#contents\">three-year study<\/a>, I found that learning in factories is fundamentally shifting from human workers to machines. In high-tech manufacturing, machines are being connected to one another in what is often referred to as the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/article\/what-is-the-internet-of-things-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-iot-right-now\/\">internet of things<\/a> \u2013 using sensors to gather information and send signals back to the production process. In the study, we <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gow.epsrc.ukri.org\/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP\/R021031\/1\">refer to<\/a> factories and even products becoming \u201cchatty\u201d through all this communication of information, and predict that this will lead to profound changes in manufacturing by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>Airbus is a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.airbus.com\/newsroom\/stories\/iot-aerospace-great-new-connector.html\">good example<\/a>. It has considerably improved the efficiency of the assembly lines for aircraft and helicopters by gathering information and continually feeding it back. Along with <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn2.hubspot.net\/hubfs\/246745\/Aeris%20Industry%20Brief%20-%20Smart%20Airplane%20Monitoring.pdf#:%7E:text=comes%20into%20play.-,IoT%20functionality%20enables%20airlines%20and%20airplane%20manufacturers%20to%20monitor%20planes,also%20gather%20non%2Dcritical%20information.\">other aircraft manufacturers<\/a> it also carries this <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach into the product, using data from aircraft in the field to find ways to improve the next generation.<\/p>\n<p>Increasingly, such systems will optimize themselves using machine learning with a view to maximizing sales and profits. In a break from the age-old system of human manufacturers deciding what to produce in response to what consumers want, machines are starting to play a role in these decisions, taking on a life of their own.<\/p>\n<p>Humans will increasingly be used in factories mainly to train robots and AI (artificial intelligence). <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zdnet.com\/article\/self-learning-systems-to-replace-humans-in-manufacturing\/\">Robots are<\/a> being developed <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/06\/robots-are-learning-complex-tasks-just-by-watching-humans-do-them\">that can<\/a> observe what humans do and learn from it, replicating simple movements and patterns. Such technologies are still very limited, even in advanced manufacturing, but this will soon change.<\/p>\n<p>Once learned, of course, these human skills will no longer be necessary. Workers will find that their ability to teach or at least work around robots and AI will become the most valued component of their skill base. Some employers <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.palgrave.com\/gp\/book\/9783319551098\">are already<\/a> emphasizing the need for workers to use their shop-floor skills differently to make what they do \u201cmachine-readable\u201d for AI.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the same technologies that allow <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a> companies to build up a picture of their users will allow manufacturers to not only monitor and simulate their workers but to build up a global picture of work and skill in general.<\/p>\n<p>Digital companies <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.workday.com\/en-us\/2020\/foundation-workday-skills-cloud.html\">are forming<\/a> \u201cskills clouds\u201d in which they build up an electronic library of ideal employee profiles in different industries that can be used in recruitment and training. This might be used to choose job applicants based on to what extent they fit these ideal profiles, for example. Skills clouds are already being used by recruitment agencies <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.altura.consulting\/blog\/workday-skills-cloud\">such as Workday<\/a> in allocating workers to manufacturing and logistics jobs.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Leveling_up_who\"><\/span>Leveling up who?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Apprenticeships and vocational qualifications used to be a route to a reasonably secure factory job \u2013 even in a nation like the UK that has lost so much of its manufacturing capability over the years. But with industry 4.0 the picture looks far less certain, at least in the years after 2030.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there will still be opportunities for workers who can work with the new <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> \u2013 \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/business-43259903\">robot wranglers<\/a>\u201d as they\u2019re being described. New jobs may be created in these areas, and those who are able to fit the criteria stored in skills clouds may be able to fill them.<\/p>\n<p>However, digitizing and automating manufacturing may reinforce a dual skills market that prizes (a small number of) high-level technical skills, while everything else ends up being done by machines. It appears that the factory and its associated infrastructure will be leveling up rather than the workers.<\/p>\n<p>The worry is that the UK government is not talking about this, and seems to be developing a strategy that is na\u00efve to it. The golden age of manufacturing and vocational skill no longer exists, if it ever did: the next shifts are about anti-human technologies and organizational forms rapidly depreciating human skills.<\/p>\n<p>This raises complex questions about what kind of society we want, which can\u2019t necessarily be answered easily. At the very least, any discussion about leveling up needs to anticipate the future and factor it into the plan.<\/p>\n<p>One point to make is that for all the talk of leveling up and working-class jobs, a missing component is the voice of the workers. Governments and opposition parties may not like it, but if factories are going to \u201clevel down\u201d skills, some form of collective ownership or at least social partnership is necessary to ensure that human skills and employment are secured \u2013 perhaps by limiting the extent to which AI and robotics are used in production.<\/p>\n<p>Unions, social movements, and workers\u2019 cooperatives have a role to play in this. We need to face what is coming and start thinking about how we respond to it \u2013 in ten short years, it may be too late.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/165109\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/165109\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><em>This article by\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/john-preston-340547\">John Preston<\/a>, Professor of Sociology, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-essex-1291\">University of Essex<\/a> is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/factories-of-the-future-were-spending-heavily-to-give-workers-skills-they-wont-need-by-2030-165109\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/stop-spending-cash-workers-skills-obsolete-2030-syndication\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Stop spending cash on giving workers skills that\u2019ll be useless in a decade&#8221; \u201cThis government is obsessed with skilling up our population,\u201d said Boris Johnson in his recent speech on \u201cleveling up\u201d. There is still a fair amount of uncertainty about exactly what the UK prime minister\u2019s plan to level up the regions will involve,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":310550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/neural?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/robots-work.jpg&signature=ea7f72b96f4da757f5cf14c1969e9bad","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-310549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}