The Future of Work: Why Is Continuing Education Important?
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the American workforce. The data confirms this. A 2023 study by McKinsey & Company concluded that COVID-19 was responsible for as many as a billion workdays lost in 2022. This number translates to up to 4.3 million workers exiting the workforce for the entire year. Translated another way, it equates to a 2.6 percent drop in workforce availability for the year. This lost time also coincided with lost revenue. According to a poll published by Statista in April 2022, the pandemic had either a large or a moderately negative effect on 65.5 percent of small businesses.
COVID-19 forced employers to pivot to adaptable work models—such as remote work—to mitigate the effects of both workplace losses and government mandates restricting in-person work. These disruptions are poised to have a lasting impact on the concept of work for years to come. At the same time, as the country moves forward in a post-pandemic environment, the necessary adaptations, along with technical innovations, have organically created opportunities for employees to refine and grow their current competencies through upskilling. These opportunities can be dynamically pursued through continuing education.
There are several reasons why continuing education is important. Getting immersed in adult learning can enable individuals to evolve their skills to stay one step ahead of the shifting work landscape. It can also help them lay the groundwork to explore more opportunities, including opportunities outside of their current industry. Through the promotion of self-improvement and skills development, individuals can turn the dark disruptions of the pandemic into a bright pathway toward the future.
The Future of Work
While what the future of work may look like in a post-pandemic era isn’t precisely known, some indicators demonstrate where work and work concepts may be heading. These indicators can organically make the case for why continuing education is important. Individuals may consider continuing education to get ahead of some of these expected pathways.
Occupation Switching
For some employees, sticking to the status quo from an employment perspective may not be an option by the end of the decade. According to the 2021 report The Future of Work After COVID-19 by the McKinsey Global Institute, it’s projected that 1 in 16 workers may have to change occupations by 2030 due to increased integration of automation and technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI).
The change isn’t projected to be distributed evenly. The McKinsey & Company report noted that industries with high-skilled jobs, such as healthcare or science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), will see concentrated job growth, whereas lower wage jobs ranging from clerical and production work to food service will experience declines. Increased use of AI and automation will spur the decline, as employers may increasingly use these technologies to aid in jobs traditionally carried out by people—such as call centers.
Continuing education courses can help individuals proactively prepare for potential change. They can also help individuals gain the skills they need to pursue a new career path that aligns with their interests.
Remote Work
The ability to work from home during the pandemic due to technological innovations such as cloud computing and online conferencing tools left the vast majority of workers wanting this element to continue—at least on a partial basis. According to Accenture’s Future of Work 2021 study, 83 percent of employee respondents said they wanted a hybrid work environment where they could work at home and in offices. A follow-up report in 2022 also indicated that 74 percent of companies were promising a measure of flexibility around their employees’ work schedules.
Additionally, a significant number of American workers have turned their homes into full-time offices. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey indicates that 35 percent of American workers with jobs that can be done remotely work from home full time. While the percentage represents a dip from the pandemic’s first year, it represents a dramatic fivefold increase from pre-pandemic numbers.
The growing acceptance of remote work, particularly on a full-time basis, can potentially expand a candidate’s scope of potential employers. At the same time, the remote work model may demand that professionals become more adept at technology, as there may be times when they may have to address issues that an on-site information technology (IT) department would typically handle. Continuing education courses can help professionals establish the foundational technology skills they may need to handle these situations if and when they should arise.
Increased Adaptation of Digital Technologies
Certain technological innovations flourished during the pandemic out of necessity or convenience, including those that were around before the pandemic. Technology-based concepts such as e-commerce and telehealth grew by up to five times their pre-COVID-19 growth rates, according to McKinsey & Company. This has created new job opportunities for individuals and will likely continue to do so for those who may need to switch occupations.
Returning to school—whether in person or online—can help professionals take advantage of the jobs that these digital innovations can create. Doing so can allow professionals to augment their technological skill sets with new competencies. For those with a solid set of skills, continuing education is important because it can help them get familiar with new innovations, which can potentially enable them to stand out among the competition.
Increased Emphasis on the Employee Experience
The pandemic’s so-called Great Resignation left a sizable dent in the workforce. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 47.8 million employees quit their jobs in 2021. Factors leading to a poor workplace experience were key to the exodus, spurred on by elements such as unreasonable performance expectations, lack of employee support, uncaring leaders, and lack of career development. For workplace leaders, managers, and human resources (HR) professionals, these reasons indicate that employees will have high expectations regarding their work environment and that they’re no longer bashful about walking away if their expectations aren’t met.
Continuing education can help these leaders gain the insight needed to take a step back and see how their company culture may be perceived through the eyes of the workforce. Just as crucial, they may become equipped with additional skills to create solutions that improve company culture and, in the long term, employee retention.
Reskilling and Upskilling
According to a 2023 survey by Deloitte and Fortune, nearly half the CEO respondents consider a skills shortage a top disruptor to workforce stability. Savvy employees can use this concern to their advantage by enrolling in online coursework and enhancing their skill set through upskilling and reskilling.
The term “upskilling” refers to the process of improving an existing knowledge base and skill set. This can be a necessary component for individuals looking to grow or advance their careers in their industry or work environment. Reskilling, on the other hand, focuses on gaining knowledge and skills that are outside of an existing skill set. This process can help individuals adequately prepare for a career change and can be critical for those who may need to switch occupations entirely in the next few years.
Regardless of whether a person upskills or reskills, they potentially place themselves in a better position to make an impression on a prospective business. Considering the concerns over a skills shortage, a wide and dynamic skill set on a resume may compel a hiring manager to take notice.
What’s Continuing Education?
“Continuing education” is a blanket term that describes adult education for the purpose of professional improvement. A person can engage in continuing education to gain new knowledge and build new skills or to fortify existing knowledge and enhance their current set of core competencies.
Many incentives speak to why continuing education is important, and as such, its purpose is multifaceted. The concept can help individuals gain the skills they need to grow and advance their careers. In this case, it can help them prepare to tackle responsibilities or meet required educational or credentialed benchmarks associated with the profession. It can also help individuals gain the knowledge and skills required to transition to a new career path.
Several different types of education strategies fit under the continuing education umbrella. Each type can achieve the goal of improving an individual’s knowledge and skills. Ultimately, each can help an individual prepare for the next phase in their career, including a completely different one.
People can engage in continuing education in many ways, including earning professional certificates, attending professional events, attending postsecondary degree programs, conducting research projects, renewing professional licenses, and taking online courses.
Professional Certificates
Professional certificates act as credentials that further validate an individual’s knowledge and skill set. They often augment existing knowledge and skills. Some certificates require the completion of a previous degree, and some correlate to a specific industry or a specific aspect of an industry. Most certificates take anywhere between a few weeks and a few months to complete. They can be in-person or online, and offer flexibility for those with careers or other commitments.
Postsecondary Degree Programs
Postsecondary degree programs are formal education initiatives that culminate in a degree. These degrees can range from associate degrees to advanced degrees—such as a master’s degree or a doctorate. The time to complete the program varies by the degree. These programs can be an important step toward advancing in specific fields, as some industries may require an advanced degree to progress past a certain level.
Professional Events
Professional events are special programs designed to give individuals further development both personally and professionally. These events commonly take the form of conferences, seminars, and workshops. They can be offered through an individual’s current employer or a professional organization. These events vary in length but typically last a few days.
Research Projects
Research projects can help professionals expand their knowledge within their field, including specialized pathways within their careers. This particular form of continuing education may be more common in academia, innovation, or healthcare. A research project may correlate with the publication of a paper or a study and can provide an individual with additional credentials.
Online Courses
Online courses are courses that individuals can enroll in and complete online without having to set foot inside of a classroom. This can allow them to sign up for a course that solely focuses on developing knowledge of a specific subject, learning a new skill, or fortifying an existing competency. Because these courses are online, individuals can typically complete them at their own pace and around their own schedules.
Professional License Renewal
Individuals with existing professional licenses may need to periodically take education courses or examinations to have their licenses renewed. This renewal process can be critical because it not only helps individuals refine their skill set but also ensures that they have up-to-date knowledge about the subject or industry pertaining to the license.
The Benefits of Continuing Education
There are both long- and short-term benefits of continuing education. Combined, the benefits speak to why continuing education is important and why investing in it as an adult can be worthwhile regardless of career ambitions.
Continuing education can yield several career-enhancing benefits. These benefits include new skills and interest development, increased productivity, improved knowledge of technical innovation, increased confidence, improved job satisfaction, and new potential opportunities.
New Skills and Interest Development
Enrolling in continuing education courses can help individuals cultivate and strengthen their hard and soft skills. The former skill set relates to the industry-specific technical abilities associated with the role, while the latter skill set relates to the interpersonal skills associated with working well in the context of a work environment.
Continuing education can also help individuals cultivate new interests and skills. This may provide the spark they need to consider a change to a career that better suits their interests.
Increased Productivity
The skills developed and fortified through a continuing education program can help individuals refine the processes they use to execute specific tasks. This refinement can mean that they can complete their tasks with greater efficiency, which can lead to a boost in productivity.
Improved Knowledge of Technical Innovation
Technology can evolve very quickly. With this evolution comes the potential for enhanced job performance and new career opportunities for those who fully understand the capabilities of new technologies. Continuing education can allow individuals to gain a deeper knowledge of new and innovative technologies.
In the short term, professionals can use technology to boost their productivity and improve the quality of their work. In the long term, it can enable them to elevate their skills and knowledge, which can be beneficial for those looking to advance their careers.
Increased Confidence
Continuing education can broaden individuals’ knowledge and skills and fortify the confidence they have in their existing competencies. This can mean honing leadership skills that may be needed for advanced roles.
Improved Job Satisfaction
Being able to develop a more dynamic skill set and deeper knowledge base in an educational setting can be mentally stimulating. Moreover, it can help individuals gain a better understanding of their job duties and thus lead to executing tasks more effectively and efficiently. This can result in satisfaction in their roles, as it can leave them with an increased sense of accomplishment.
New Potential Opportunities
Continuing education courses can place individuals with like-minded people who are also seeking to improve their knowledge and skills. An adult learning environment can provide a natural backdrop for networking opportunities, which can open the door to other career options that may not otherwise present themselves.
How to Prepare for Continuing and Adult Education
Succeeding in continuing education—whether by earning a certificate or attending a more formal adult education course—isn’t achieved by merely showing up. It takes sufficient planning and preparation. The reason for this is twofold. First, proper preparation will ensure that individuals enroll in a course that best fits who they are and what they wish to accomplish. Second, it can better prepare individuals to see how the course can help grow their career once they’ve achieved the goal of completing the course.
Individuals can prepare for continuing education in several ways. Each way can help instill a holistic approach to learning that enables them to get the most out of a course while maintaining their busy lifestyle. Tips include the following:
- Goal setting. Deciding on an end goal provides a framework for the rest of the process. A goal can be for career or personal purposes. It can even be a hybrid goal in which individuals aim to grow both personally and professionally.
- Specific interests. Determining the precise interests associated with continuing education can help individuals narrow their continuing education choices. These interests can be a specific topic, new skills development, or the opportunity to learn about a specialized role within their field.
- Time commitment. Some continuing education programs can be completed rather quickly. Others may take months or even years to complete. Therefore, understanding the amount of time to set aside to achieve the goals of continued education and still maintain a proper work-life balance is important.
- Budget. Some continuing education programs can require a large monetary commitment. Individuals should determine what they can afford, and then seek out programs that fit their budget as well as their interests.
- Program research. Taking the time to dig into a program to make sure that it fully aligns with one’s interests and goals is important. This research can also help individuals determine the intangibles associated with a continuing education program, such as time commitment and costs.
An Important Part of the Professional Landscape
There are plenty of reasons why continuing education is important. The concept of work continues to evolve as society progresses in a post-pandemic world, and these reasons may shift in importance. However, the ultimate incentive for pursuing continuing education is personal investment. Individuals who use continuing education courses to expand their knowledge and skills can position themselves to be ready for whatever the future of work holds.
This self-investment can also have an impact that can last throughout their career. The confidence that comes with extensive knowledge and skills can ultimately prepare individuals for leadership roles, which can also place them in a position to shape the future of work. By enrolling in a continuing education program, they can have a profound impact on their own professional path and influence the paths of others.
Infographic Sources:
Indeed, 12 Types of Continuing Education
Indeed, 12 Benefits of Continuous Learning at Work (Plus Tips)