What is the internet of careers? And how will that impact the future of work?
We approach the end of a genuinely unprecedented year. And many organizations and people are asking what the future holds for the workforce in 2021.
Things are changing at lightning speed for employees, making it impossible to document all they are learning. Thus, far too often, they undervalue themselves in the marketplace. Further infuriating, in our current remote workplaces, there’s no one able to look over our shoulders and affirm, “Yes, you’ve mastered this skill.”
For organizations, it’s challenging to know who really knows what. They must still rely on buzzwords off a resume to serve as the professional “gospel” – claiming to reveal the truth and dispel falsehood. This reliance on keywords gives incentive to people to embellish their resumes. As a result, expensive and time-consuming hiring practices continue to prevail. In the meantime, good employees (those undervalued themselves) don’t have the opportunity to excel.
Where does this leave us? The hiring ecosystem, with its inherent inefficiencies accelerated by the pandemic, has confirmed two needs:
- A way to fix employees’ undervaluation of their skills and ownership of their career journey.
- An efficient and trusted system for verification and exchange of skills.
The new world of work and the rapid digital transformation of the labor market is also pushing us towards a reimagined, frictionless talent screening, employment, and internal mobility ecosystem.
The solution sure to fix this problem for both organizations and employees: The Internet of Careers.
Introducing Blockchain to the Workforce
A verified and trusted career credentialing solution will forever change the hiring ecosystem and skills economy. Such a system will empower employees to manage their career credentials while also allowing organizations to trust the shared credentials. So, what makes this possible? The answer, blockchain.
We dare not confine blockchain to transactions of cryptocurrency. Instead, it has the broader capability to transform the way we validate transactions across all kinds of essential applications – from food safety to insurance processing.
So what about its use in the workforce? Blockchain is creating the “Internet of Careers,” a verifiable digital wallet of career records and qualifications. For HR leaders, this will be a key player in future recruiting and employee career advancements. And it’s already in motion: Fourteen industry leaders formed the Velocity Network Foundation from across HCM and education markets. The organization’s mission: To deliver a first-of-its-kind “Internet of Careers” platform.
By utilizing blockchain, the Internet of Careers offers a standardized and secure ecosystem with verifiable digital identity, career, and education records. The technology enables a decentralized information exchange, requiring consensus across the ecosystem before documenting new transactions. This process prevents alterations to items once recorded and ensures all transactions are safe and secure.
Equipping HR Professionals to Succeed
Without the ability to meet new candidates face-to-face, HR leaders can rely on candidates’ background information and be confident the experience and skillset is verifiable. The Internet of Careers equips each employee with a digital record of their work-related data – from employment history, to skills and credentials, to previous salary and benefit information. Traceable and trusted records through the ecosystem make it easier for HR professionals to find the best candidates with the right skills and qualifications.
By leveraging the Internet of Careers, the hiring process would gain much-needed efficiency through reduced cost and time to hire. Also, organizations will benefit from lower hiring mistakes caused by an applicant who has falsified their information.
Increased Ownership Over Our Careers
According to Accenture’s Putting Trust to Work study, 73 percent of employees said they want to own their work-related records and take them along as they transition jobs. For many Millennials and members of Generation Z, having a transferable digital identity is crucial as they continue to develop and advance in the workforce.
Rather than taking a job and staying with a company for a decade or two, today’s employees continue to jump from organization to organization every few years. Many – especially those with technical skills in high demand – stick around even less, taking on freelance and gig roles for a short period. Due to the disrupted job market created by the pandemic and the burgeoning skills economy, remote freelance and gig work has seen a tremendous spike that will continue to rise in 2021.
The design inherent with The Internet of Careers gives individuals the ability to verify their employment history and skills gained. The user then shares this career ecosystem of credential issuers and inspectors as and when needed. Giving employees ownership of their own digital identity allows them to carry this with them throughout their careers. Further, by decentralizing data location, users can oversee where their data is stored. They’ll also know who has access to their data, for how long. And they’ll also know where and how their data is used.
A New Normal for Organizations and Employees
The future of work calls for future-ready employees eager to gain new skills and engage with ongoing learning. Having a clear record of ambition and achievement will give individuals a leg up when seeking to advance their careers. And when selecting individuals for new projects, promotions, and positions? Leaders will actively seek employees who can show verifiable evidence of reskilling and upskilling.
The Internet of Careers will make the future of the workforce a reality. Even more important, it will impact organizations and employees for years to come.
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