"Preparing the current and future workforce for the work ahead cannot take place in a vacuum,” writes Manish Bahl, AVP, Center for the Future of Work, APAC. “The good news is that 75% of both businesses and higher education institutions [HEIs] view collaboration as critical to effectively preparing the workforce for the future.”

Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work recently published the whitepaper, Relearning how we Learn from the Campus to the Workplace. The paper examines what both businesses and educators need to do to prepare the workforce for the future of work.

Whether in the front office, back office or the C-suite, today’s workforce will soon need to know how to collaborate with artificial intelligence (AI) systems. The rise of automation and AI is raising questions about the employable skills, attitudes and behaviors necessary for people to participate in the future of work. While automation will eliminate some jobs, many more will be created or changed.

Whether these transformations proceed rapidly or at a moderate pace, many individuals will need to adapt to evolving work tasks or switch to new occupations entirely, while many students will need to point themselves in multiple career directions. Meanwhile, both business leaders and educators have been slow to adapt their corporate learning programs and educational approaches to reflect the future of work, with most at the early stages of identifying future skills.

In the face of the unknown future, businesses and HEIs will need to engage in more flexible partnerships, quicker responses, different modes of delivery and new combined-skill programs to reliably prepare people for what comes next. Crucial questions include: How will we identify the most relevant skill areas? How can we overhaul our content and curriculum? How can we redefine our teaching and training approaches?

To answer these questions, Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work surveyed 601 top business executives at leading companies and 262 HEIs, globally. The objective was to gain insight into the changes these entities are making in their educational programs, and the challenges they face in preparing tomorrow’s workforce.

Click here to read the full report.