New technologies are transforming people’s work lives worldwide, either by changing their jobs or replacing functions

Adapting to this monumental change will require funding to reskill and upskill these workers.
Seven initiatives show how public and private sector organizations can share the responsibility of creating a workforce prepared for the future.
Technology is on track to transform 1.1 billion jobs by 2030. In the United States alone, 1.37 million workers could be displaced from their roles in the next decade due to the adoption of new technologies. However, these workers could be reskilled to take on new roles that require similar skills and offer higher wages. Reskilling would cost an average of $34 billion, or $24,800 per displaced worker.
Currently, there is limited and unreliable information about the economic feasibility and return on investment of upskilling and reskilling initiatives. This lack of clarity about where and how much to invest presents a similar challenge for workers, who also do not know how much they should invest themselves. The same applies to potential funders of these initiatives, such as government entities, specific programs, companies, and unions.
Since 2024, the World Economic Forum’s Reskilling Revolution initiative has secured commitments from various organizations to reskill, upskill, and train 680 million people worldwide. However, turning these commitments into concrete actions will require a critical analysis of the costs associated with the need for lifelong learning. It will also be necessary to develop more innovative models to fairly distribute the responsibility for training among individuals, employers, and governments.

Members of the World Economic Forum’s Future Skills Alliance have identified four key principles to consider when funding continuous learning, upskilling, and reskilling initiatives:
The following seven initiatives have applied these principles to create funding models that promote skill development, capacity building, and reskilling in various contexts:

1. Siemens SiTecSkills Academy: Building the Workforce of the Future Today
   Using a combined funding model, this initiative provides technical training to both Siemens’ workforce and its external partners. The content is partly based on the company’s vocational training program focused on digitalization and sustainability. Leveraging government co-financing of up to 25% through Germany’s Qualification Opportunities Act and sharing training costs with its partners, Siemens can ensure long-term employability and alignment with the changing demands of the industry for its workers.
2. Skillsoft and Syracuse University: Collaborative Funding for Post-Service Skills for US Veterans and Their Families
   The D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, in collaboration with Skillsoft, runs the Onward to Opportunity program. This reskilling initiative offers service members and their spouses certifications in high-demand tech areas such as cloud computing, cybersecurity, networking, and project management. The program is funded through an innovative combination of corporate sponsorships, federal grants, and private donations. This model not only ensures sustainable funding but also aligns with the university’s mission-driven partnerships.
3. General Assembly of The Adecco Group and Tamkeen: A Partnership to Prepare Bahrain’s Future Tech Talent
   This program uses a government-funded, 100% results-based funding model to offer fully accessible tech boot camps to citizens of Bahrain. Led by General Assembly, the Adecco Group’s tech and AI training provider, and Tamkeen, a government agency supporting private-sector training, the program aligns training with industry needs to address skill gaps and advance Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030. This public-private collaboration focuses particularly on emerging technologies and digital skills training.
4. Social Finance US and American Diesel Training Centers (ADTC): Empowering Economic Mobility
   ADTC and the nonprofit Social Finance have partnered to address the diesel technician shortage in the US. This program provides an affordable and condensed training path for underserved communities. Funded with nearly $9 million from Social Finance’s UP Fund, this initiative also uses a flat-rate reimbursement model in which employers cover training costs for many graduates. This makes the program a sustainable and accessible route for workforce economic mobility.
5. Aramco: Enhancing Vocational Training through Public-Private Strategic Partnerships
   Saudi Aramco has used its expertise in vocational training to establish National Training Centers in collaboration with the government, aiming to address specific skill requirements in technical and vocational fields through employment-led training schemes. These centers align education with industry demand in sectors like energy and manufacturing, promoting long-term workforce development. The initiative relies on a unique contribution scheme, where Saudi Aramco provides initial funding and technical expertise, while the government handles training facilities, approvals, and subsidies for sponsoring companies.
6. Majid Al Futtaim Group: Preparing Emirati Talent for Emerging Jobs
   Majid Al Futtaim’s program addresses skill alignment for Emirati talent in high-demand sectors, offering “key skills” workshops for professional development. This includes on-the-job training and employability training to upskill and reskill local talent. The training covers areas like communication, resilience, critical thinking, adaptability, and readiness for change. The program’s public-private funding model involves 70% of costs funded by the government through the Abu Dhabi Global Market, with the remaining 30% covered by employers.
7. Amazon Web Services (AWS) Spain and its Technology Alliance: Closing the Global Tech Skills Gap
   The AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance is a global coalition aimed at addressing the tech skills gap through collaboration with employers, government agencies, workforce development organizations, and educational leaders. The initiative operates in 11 countries and adopts a collaborative funding model with co-investment from AWS, employers, and governments. AWS provides students with access to learning materials, cloud credits for hands-on learning using AWS technical resources, and support for educator empowerment at no cost. Regional governments contribute by allocating budgets for professional development of educators in digital skills.

These investments in adult learning aim to address current skill shortages and build future talent pipelines, creating specific pathways to employment through training, upskilling, on-the-job learning, and reskilling for job transitions. Each program is carried out in a specific context and faces individual challenges, suggesting the importance of aligning funding.

To monitor success, these initiatives measure four different levels of impact:

Level 1: Adoption and Engagement
Level 2: Skill Acquisition
Level 3: Skill Applicability for Jobs
Level 4: Economic and Business Impact

Four ways to measure the return on training initiatives.

All organizations involved measure impact at adoption and engagement (level one), while a smaller proportion measure levels two and three.

The next step for these initiatives (level four) will be a shift in focus, from tracking the number of people reached to achieving real, measurable outcomes in terms of business and economic impact, including job accessibility, placement rates, economic mobility, and improvements in productivity and competitiveness. Undoubtedly, more detailed longitudinal tracking of data and results is needed to understand how upskilling and reskilling initiatives are contributing to business productivity and economic growth.

As the global workforce faces the monumental challenge of adapting to new technologies, these initiatives are already demonstrating how we can begin to more equitably distribute the responsibility of funding training, upskilling, and reskilling between education providers, employers, individuals, and governments.

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Aarushi Singhania
Initiatives Lead, People Centric Pillar, Advanced Manufacturing, World Economic Forum
Neil Allison
Head of Education, Skills and Learning Mission, World Economic Forum
This article is part of: World Economic Forum Annual Meeting