Technological advancements like automation, AI, and deep learning are helping companies reduce labor costs. With many companies incorporating these technologies into their offerings and operations, more is getting done in less time. There are significant time savings, greater process efficiency, and cost reduction. But, as a side effect, businesses need fewer employees to perform the same work. Efficiency has improved, and there aren’t enough tasks to go around.
Employees can try to move between departments, but some employees’ skill sets have simply become outdated and are not up to par with the current level of technology in the company or the world. Due to this, they cannot fulfill any current role in the company.
So what to do with the workers that have become obsolete, through no fault of their own? Will you lay off loyal, seasoned employees with outdated talents and hire new employees with updated skills?
While it is feasible to switch out current staff with new ones that have the skills you desire, it is not the most effective. Finding and hiring people takes time, is effort-intensive, and costly.
Upskilling and reskilling obsolete employees to transfer into different positions, on the other hand, can be a great alternative.
What Is Upskilling and Reskilling?
First, let’s get some definitions out of the way.
Upskilling is the process of adding to an existing skill set within a current role (e.g., training a currently employed software engineer in a new programming language).
Reskilling is learning new skills needed to do an entirely different job (e.g., switching from graphic design to software development).
Why Is Upskilling and Reskilling Important In 2023?
In the ultra-competitive modern marketplace, companies must constantly update their offerings to stay relevant and gain a competitive edge. Keeping your employees’ training up-to-date and on par with current market offerings is an essential part of this process. It’s increasingly important as AI and Machine Learning technologies, eliminating basic tasks and resulting in a steep gap between workers’ skills and the opportunities available to them.
These trends are backed up by the numbers as well. As per the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023, by 2024, “44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years” due to AI and automation, and “6 in 10 workers will require training before 2027” to maintain their current employment. What’s more, approximately 90% of managers and executives who participated in a McKinsey survey agreed their organizations either already faced a skills gap or expected gaps by 2024. It’s clear that if a company isn’t thinking about how they’ll upskill and reskill their employees in the coming years, they’re already behind.
Retraining and upskilling employees to prepare them for the future is no longer a “nice to have” option, it is now a necessity.
How Do Upskilling and Reskilling Save Money?
Investing in the upskilling and reskilling of current employees, as opposed to simply laying off large swaths of your workforce and hiring new workers, has various tangible benefits:
Reduce Training and Recruitment Costs
When recruiting employees with a new skill set, you’ll also have to bear associated costs — interviewing, hiring, background checks, onboarding, process training, etc. And, for employees with niche skillsets in highly desirable technologies, you may end up paying top dollar to outbid other companies for talent.
Retraining your current workforce with new skills can help save on the costs associated with new hires. What’s more, current employees are already well-trained in your organization’s processes and policies so they can hit the ground running with their new skills or in their upgraded role, no onboarding required.
Retain Knowledge and Talent
The technological landscape will continue evolving, with new tech adopted every few years and a high value put on talent with up-to-date skillsets. But, in comparison, your tenured employees with years or even decades of accumulated knowledge about your company’s product and processes verge on priceless.
Upskilling and reskilling employees ensure that your company’s offerings keep pace with changing trends while retaining your top talent.
If you don’t invest in training, these employees may update their skills themselves and find another employer. You’ll have to look for new talent and bear associated hiring costs to replace them, not to mention the invaluable knowledge and experience they take with them. Invest in your loyal employees, and your company will continue to evolve and keep up with market trends.
Build An Adaptable, Future-Ready Workforce
Cross-trained employees with diverse knowledge in multiple areas are a significant asset to any organization.
They offer better insights and can weigh in on multiple areas to enable the business to function more efficiently. With multiple skill sets, upskilled and reskilled employees can be leveraged across projects, teams, and departments. And, having already been retrained once, they can adapt to other new technologies as they come.
Upskilling and Reskilling Your Employees With Flatiron School
Flatiron School offers a range of programs to address different upskilling and reskilling needs. For companies that need to quickly adapt to Artificial Intelligence, we have AI training programs that teach teams cutting-edge tech skills. We also offer discipline-specific programs in Software Engineering, Data Science, Cybersecurity, and Product Design.
No matter your industry or offering, employee skill gaps in these areas can be addressed and resolved with our enterprise offerings.
AI Training Programs
Detecting Cyber Threats With AI
This program prepares Cybersecurity Analysts to apply AI techniques in detecting and mitigating Cybersecurity threats. This four-hour program also covers NLP in threat intelligence as well as uncovering hidden patterns with machine learning. Learners will cover:
- The Power of AI in Threat Intelligence
- Natural Language Processing
- Uncovering Hidden Patterns With Machine Learning
- Protecting Against Emerging Threats
Prompt Engineering Basics
This program gives learners with minimal programming experience the skills needed to develop prompt-based AI applications. After eight hours, learners will have a deep understanding on how to get effective results from generative AI tools. Learners will cover:
- Intro to Prompt Engineering With ChatGPT
- Writing Powerful Prompts
- Quality Control & Testing Of Existing Prompts
- Understanding the Limits of Prompt Engineering
- Automating Prompt Engineering Solutions
- Ethical Considerations in Prompt Engineering
Build and Deploy AI Applications
This advanced program is for mid-level Software Engineers with a high-level understanding of AI to develop innovative AI-focused skills. This 40-hour program also covers deep learning and natural language processing. Learners will cover:
- Foundations: The AI Development Pipeline
- Data Collection & Model Development
- Deep Learning & Natural Language Processing
- Deploying An AI Application
AI Strategy for Business Leaders
This program arms non-technical leaders with the basic knowledge they need to leverage AI when making key business decisions. During the 12-hour program, leaders will hear use cases in their functional areas as well as learn how to create persuasive presentations when advocating for AI throughout their departments. Learners will cover:
- The AI Landscape Unpacked
- AI In Action: Real-World Examples
- Crafting A Winning AI Strategy
- Articulating The AI Advantage
Discipline-Specific Training Programs
Software Engineering
After completing Flatiron School’s Software Engineering course, learners will be ready to build software for websites and apps. They’ll learn about:
- Front-end development
- Front-end web applications
- Back-end development
- Back-end web application programming interfaces (APIs)
Possible career paths: Full Stack Developer, Web Developer, Software Engineer, and Prompt Engineer.
Data Science
The Flatiron School’s Data Science curriculum teaches learners to master the art of data analysis. They’ll discover how to use data to answer questions and make actionable insights. They’ll learn about:
- Data analysis and engineering
- Scientific computing and quantitative methods
- Machine learning fundamentals
- Advanced machine learning
Possible career paths: Data Analyst, Business Intelligence Analyst, AI Engineer, and Data Scientist.
Cybersecurity
In this course, your employees will learn how to protect enterprise, client, and employee data from getting stolen, hacked, leaked, or damaged. They’ll learn about:
- Network security
- System security
- Python scripting techniques
- Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC)
- Logs and detection
- Threat intelligence
- Application security
- Applied cryptography
Possible career paths: Cyber Engineer, Penetration Tester, Security Analyst, and Security Consultant.
UX/UI Product Design
In this course, learners will gain a foundation in design while focusing on how users interact with technology, how to improve brand messaging, and enhance customer loyalty. They’ll learn about:
- The user experience (UX) process — Ethical and inclusive design, foundational research, and ideation and innovation
- The user interface (UI) process — Elements of visual composition, typography and color, and interaction and animation
- Product design framework, usability testing, and UI kit development for developers
- Micro-interactions, data visualization, and communication
Possible career paths: Product Designer, UX Designer, UX Researcher, Web Designer, and UI Designer.
Get Started With Flatiron School
If you’re considering a custom solution to meet your upskilling and reskilling needs, consider the following questions:
- What key skill gaps do you want to address?
- How many learners will go through the training?
- What is your learners’ existing skill level?
- Which competencies and outcomes would you like to achieve?
- What are the desired program modality and delivery structure? (In-person vs. virtual, part-time vs. full-time, start and end dates, etc.)
Flatiron School’s Enterprise team works with your company to identify skills gaps and build a program tailored to your goals. With Flatiron School, your employees will develop in-demand skills to keep your company on the competitive edge and take charge of their careers at the same time.
To learn more about a standard offering, or to get a custom training solution for your organization, contact Flatiron School today.