How do you stay relevant in the labor market?
By: Ulrich Petré
Tags: Skills, Digital Transformation, Mindset, Personal Development, Coaching

You cannot ignore it. Our society is in a transition phase. The past months have shown how indispensable technology is for us. Without technology, we would have been in a much deeper black hole as a result of Covid19. Because let’s be honest, how else could you have worked from home? How had you kept in touch with friends, family and acquaintances? How had you made your non-essential purchases? In any case, Covid19 has accelerated the path to a new (more) digital society and changing labor market in many areas. We went from 1 to 4 lanes in a very short time. And there is no way back. History has repeatedly shown that with every major change in society you also have to change your mindset, skillset and toolset. In this article we will take a closer look at the question of which mindset, skillset and toolset you need to stay relevant in the labor market from 2021.

Towards a (more) digital society

We have been in the transition to a new society for some time now. Our current society, also known as the information society, is coming to an end. This society was created in the 1980s with the arrival of the personal computer at home and at work. This allowed us to produce much more data and we switched from analog data to local digital data on USB sticks, DVDs, CDs, hard drives, etc… Since 2003 we have been in transition. At that time it was established that there was as much analog as digital data on our globe. Since then, the growth of digital data has gone exponentially and we have started to store in the cloud .

But until Covid19, things didn’t really get along with digitization. Working from home was limited. Care and education also regularly became a hindrance. Corona has accelerated the adoption of digitization. Suddenly we had to work from home, follow digital lessons and remotely come into contact with our health insurance fund, GP and even physiotherapist.

New mindset, skillset, toolset

And there is no going back! All these sudden changes will partially weaken after corona, but they will continue to exist. In order to survive during the corona, many companies and self-employed people have been forced to change their activities. Restaurants have switched to take-away menus. The local shopkeeper has started a webshop for good reason. All kinds of coaches now provide online guidance. There are many more examples. One thing is certain: our workplace will change after corona!

Many companies are also clearly accelerating to adopt new technologies. With this they want to avoid being closed again for weeks in the future and being less productive. These new technologies such as AI, Cloud Computing and IoT will drive growth and productivity. This will therefore create new jobs, change job tasks, but also destroy jobs. To remain relevant as an employee in this changing labor market, you need a new mindset, skillset and toolset.

Digital Mindset

First, to stay relevant in the job market you need a new mindset. Your mindset is how you see the world around you, how you perceive and view that world. Your mindset are your beliefs, ideas, thoughts, opinions, paradigms, etc… They determine your behavior and your view of the world. They also determine how you interpret and respond to situations.

The age-old saying ‘Old ways don’t open new doors’ gives us the right advice. If you want something new, you have to be willing to do something new. In other words, if you want to stay relevant in the job market, you have to adjust your mindset. For many this is a challenge. We like to be in our comfort zone. We are safe there. And understandable too. But in order to grow, you have to get out of that comfort zone and revise or let go of your current thinking.

21st century skillset

Second, to stay relevant in the job market, you need a 21st-century skillset in addition to a digital mindset. Many shifts will take place in the labor market in the coming period. Unfortunately, the lockdown causes companies to go bankrupt. The adoption of technologies within companies is restructuring the workforce. Many baby boomers are retiring and leaving the labor market. If we do nothing, we will face a structural shortage in many sectors and professions and there is a threat of an ever-widening skills gap.

A skillset is how you act and behave based on your skills, knowledge and understanding. Just like the service society in the last century needed a different skillset than the industrial society. The skills then shifted from repetitive work and compliance to administrative work.

For jobs in the 21st century, a skillset from the 21st century is therefore required. This 21st century skillset is a set of basic skills that everyone active in the labor market needs to be sustainable in his or her career. The 4 main skills are self-regulation, social skills, digital literacy and brainpower.

As jobs (mainly repetitive and administrative work) will disappear, these 21st-century skills alone will not suffice, but employees and job seekers will sometimes have to retrain for a new profession. On top of this, additional STEM skills are therefore necessary.

Learning Desire

Finally, you also need a toolset. A toolset are the mechanisms you use to develop your skills and achieve your goals. Your best and largest toolset to stay relevant in the labor market is your learning desire. Learning desire is the desire and the ability to grow and to adapt your skills to remain employable throughout your career.

In a rapidly changing society, it is important to keep training and improve and develop your skills. Unfortunately, we notice that Flanders (Belgium) has no tradition in the field of lifelong learning. According to the OECD, it appears that 4 out of 5 Flemish people are not motivated to follow a course. We experience further training as a formal obligation or shortcoming of our own abilities. We see this as a problem rather than a challenge. Until now, from home or at school, we did not pay enough attention to the fun and the right way of learning. Business leaders also have every interest in installing a learning culture within their organization and thus keeping people on board. In addition, it is the task of the government to stimulate lifelong learning and to help employees and employers to match. Ultimately, it is up to the individual to learn.

Relevant in the labor market

In summary, in order to remain relevant in the labor market from 2021 it is important to develop a digital mindset, a 21-century skillset and learning desire as a toolset.

In any case, the means are readily available. Thanks to digitization, there is a lot of knowledge available for grabs without having to sit down on a school desk. Just think of online courses, webinars, MOOCs, videos, e-books, podcasts, etc …

Determine the direction of your career yourself and use these sets to develop your career. If you find it difficult to get started with this, then seek guidance. There is no shame in asking for help. On the contrary, with this you make it clear to yourself and to others that you want to grow.