New technologies are developing at a rapid pace. And so industrial practice and the skills that workers need to acquire nowadays are changing too. The speed of change means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to include the new skills that are required into nationwide or standardised curricula. In addition, employees are often not adequately trained. The result is a skills gap; that is, a gap between the skills needed in industry and the skills that employees actually possess.
We see a clear shift towards information technology in the new skills requirements for technical professions. Topics such as connectivity and communication, IT security and programming as well as artificial intelligence and energy management are becoming increasingly important. With the need for a more sustainable future, green skills have to be included in professional profiles.
In addition, knowledge of new business models and agile methods as well as pioneering skills and the ability to differentiate are necessary in order to be well prepared for the challenges of today's industrial working world. These non-technical soft skills are indispensable today and are constantly being expanded.
As a globally networked education partner, we translate the skills requirements for different professions into competency diagrams.
This skills diagram ("radar" diagram) for the occupational profile of a mechatronics technician is an example that visualises changes in the requirements and clearly indicates the need for skills development (= skills gap):
To make life as easy as possible for educational coordinators, we develop adaptable training plans for different professional profiles based on skills needs analyses. These map the current requirements for skills while any new skills requirements can be quick and easily integrated as needed.
Our training plans answer important questions for teachers at vocational school, trainers and in-company staff responsible for continuing education, such as: