Kathleen Manning
Updated: February 22, 2021
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Businesses & education must increase partnerships in 2021
By Kathleen Manning
The year 2020 has become the measure for what awaits businesses in 2021, and higher education is playing a pivotal role in this new landscape. Taking center stage in this new environment is the working from home phenomenon. COVID has forever changed the face of business.
The new year will bring about more ways to do business remotely, and in order to remain successful, employers and employees must have the skill sets necessary to adapt to this new online business frontier. This is where higher education will take center stage.
Since the start of the pandemic, we have witnessed companies redefining their place in this changing landscape. To help meet the demands of a new marketplace, higher education had been adopting new modes of educational delivery.
At many community colleges, workforce development and continuing education departments offer career, corporate and professional development training. Today, new educational models such as the professional development subscription-based, all-you-can-learn education model are being introduced. These models enable employers and individuals to receive training on their own time and duration in areas ranging from Microsoft office suite to manufacturing. Employee soft skills will become more valuable for businesses moving forward, as skills such as time management and managing the virtual workspace can mean the difference between a business succeeding or failing.
Cyber security and privacy risks will be on the increase. In 2021, there will be a strong market demand for cloud security skills. Colleges and universities offer educational pathways to cyber security programs paying back big dividends to both employers and employees.
While automation has already been steadily increasing, the pandemic has now forced companies to stay up-to-date with technology, as we have moved to a more virtual business format. According to the website TechHQ.com, more than a third of today’s workforce may require retraining due to automation. Higher education and, more specifically, community colleges can play an important role, offering courses, one-year robotics certificates to two-year associate degrees focusing on process automation and robotics.
As 2020 brought our global marketplace to its knees, 2021 will be a time for businesses to look more locally in selling their goods and services. Strategizing early on can mean the difference between a business succeeding or failing should there be a disruption in international trade. Customized professional development courses will enable companies to retrain employees to meet changing needs.
The new year promises to see a closer relationship between business and education as companies look to higher education to get them where they need to be in 2021.
Kathleen Manning is dean of center for workforce development and continuing education at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester.
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