Caroline Styr – Senior Executive at Cognizant’s Center for the Future of Work

Traditionally, learning & work have been viewed as mutually exclusive domains in our lives. Each took place in its own chronologically segregated time, often sequentially, but occasionally overlapping each other. However, organizational digital transformation obliges us to re-examine that approach, as perpetual reskilling & upskilling become prominent fixtures in the future of work. Is it time to integrate learning & work to the point they're indistinguishably co-mingled in one’s job description? Will doing so bolster a digitally transformed organization’s competitiveness, particularly in attracting & retaining talent? And how should responsibility for continuously refreshing people’s skills be allotted between individuals, organizations, academia, & government? At the dawn of the 4th Industrial Revolution, & against a backdrop of ever-lengthening lifespans, these questions have begun taking center stage. Those entering today's workforce can expect to be employed for 6 decades. Or more. Given the recent pace of technological change, it’s a sure bet the skills they inaugurated their careers with won't be the same ones they’ll need to maintain, much less, advance them. For insight on how people & organizations should realign their expectations of and bearings towards this new paradigm, we consult with Caroline Styr, Sr. Executive at the Center for the Future of Work. Caroline’s recently published study “Cycling Through the 21st Century Career, Putting Learning in its Rightful Place”, highlights this critical, yet lamentably under-discussed issue. We'll learn about some startling findings her study uncovered, her prescription for how organizations can initiate the shift towards a modern career model, and the one surprising thing she believes individuals should focus on in order to adopt a continuous learning mindset.