The future of work is already here

by Jacqui Canney, May 2, 2017

In this series, we asked speakers at the Milken Institute Global Conference to answer: How does one build a meaningful life in the age of technological disruption? Join the conversation by writing your own article here and including #MIGlobal.

In my role, I’m often asked what the “future of work” will look like. It’s a really important question – and something I spend a lot of time thinking about. My answer is always the same – just look around you. The future of work is already here.

Technology has fundamentally changed everything about our lives – how we shop, bank, call a cab, call a friend – you name it. Technology makes life more convenient and actually frees us up to spend more time doing the things we love to do.

The essence of the question about the future of work isn’t lost on me, though. There is a significant challenge facing the global workforce that has to be addressed – the way we live is ahead of the way we work. This gap will only widen if we don’t face it head-on. It will take companies, industries and societies working together to ensure the workforce develops the skills required to succeed now and in the future.

Walmart’s role

The way we work today and how we’ll work tomorrow is people-led and tech-enabled. That means equipping our associates with technology that not only helps us work smarter, but also empowers us with new ways to delight our customers. But at the very root of it is humanity. It’s people. We believe our people will set us apart.

Continuous learning and training is the key to success. That’s why over the past two years we invested $2.7 billion in training, education and higher wages. Our new training programs are powered by technology and blend experiential, on-the-floor training with traditional classroom learning. The result is rapid, on-the-job upskilling opportunities for hundreds of thousands of U.S. associates.

Our investment in our people is already paying off. We’re seeing better-run stores, more engaged associates and our customers are telling us they like what they’re seeing. By the end of this year we hope to accelerate the momentum in our business by training more than 225,000 associates – preparing them for jobs with more responsibility and higher pay. They will have new skills. They will have confidence. And they will feel ownership of the work they do today, and the future that lies ahead of them – whether they choose to stay in retail or take those skills to a new field.

Retail’s role

We know we can’t do this alone. The pace of change today makes employer-based training more important than ever, though the 2015 Economic Report of the President found that on-the-job training has been declining for decades.

That’s why programs like the National Retail Federation’s RISE Up initiative are so important. NRF is taking a leadership role and pulling retailers together to determine the ready-now skills and capabilities we need our employees to have to serve customers today and tomorrow. And they are taking a holistic approach that gives people transferable skills.

As the cost of higher education gets more expensive and schools struggle to keep pace with the changing needs of the labor market, programs like RISE Up can serve as a new path to transferable skills, and open doors to a successful future.

There is still work to do to make sure everyone, regardless of where they work or the industry they’re in, has access to training and education that gives them valuable skills. As a society, we must come together and build solutions that serve everyone — that’s why we’re committed to this through both our business and our foundation.

Society’s role

The skills gap is not unique to the retail industry. The National Skills Coalition reported computer proficiency is required in approximately 54% of all “middle-skill” jobs, but only 44% of the workforce has those skills. And while digital acumen is often cited as the largest gap, there are others. How we work in the digital age will be as different as the tools we use.

Technology is driving change faster than we could have imagined just a few years ago, and to succeed today, companies need employees to be curious, move fast and be highly adaptable. This means businesses, skills providers, non-profits and governments at all levels have to find new ways to work together to ensure people are equipped to succeed in rapidly changing workplaces. When people have the skills they need to succeed in jobs, economies grow.

New and different technologies will emerge, and with them new and different skills will be needed. We can’t predict what the future of work will look like, but we can prepare. At Walmart, we’re optimistic. Because we’ve already started training one of the world’s largest workforces like the future of work is already here.