Mid-career workers are the most willing to retrain, according to Global Talent Survey of over 208,000 workers

Mid-career workers are the most willing to retrain, according to insights from the Global Talent Survey of over 208,000 workers worldwide. The findings are part of our Decoding Global Reskilling and Career Paths report, which explores how employers can adapt to shifting skills demands and support workers through change.

What is the Global Talent Survey?

The Global Talent Survey (GTS) is a piece of research usually undertaken every four years by Totaljobs and their partners in The Network, a global alliance of more than 50 leading recruitment websites, alongside Boston Consulting Group, one of the world’s leading management consultancies.

The last GTS was published in 2018, but with 2020 bringing a swathe of changes to the way we live and work, we once again gathered global insights from 208,807 people in 190 countries.

• Find out more about our first report in the 2021 Global Talent series.
• Find out more about our second report in the 2021 Global Talent series.

Key findings from the Decoding Global Reskilling and Career Paths report

Majority of workers are willing to retrain

Over half (57%) of UK workers are open to retraining, with a further 37% willing to do so if necessary, due to the impact of automation or Covid-19. For global workers, willingness to retrain is even higher, at 68%, with an additional 28% open to this if it became necessary.

Mid-career workers (aged 31-40) are the age group in the UK reporting the most willingness to retrain, at 64%, and are also the demographics currently spending the most time on learning and development. This is despite the fact that only 32% of 31-40 year olds reporting increased concern about the impact of automation on their jobs.

Willingness to retrain is also generally higher for people in job roles considered more vulnerable (both in terms of automation and Covid); in the UK, the top job roles most willing to retrain are services (77%), manual/manufacturing and customer service (76%).

Many people considering retraining aim to move into sectors which are similar to their existing one, such as manual workers becoming technicians, or administrative workers looking into finance or HR positions. Overall, digital and information technology top the list of potential careers that workers believe retraining can unlock.

Impact of automation on careers

The economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic comes at a time when some workers already have a level of concern about the impact of technology and automation on their jobs.

On average, 35% of UK workers have become more concerned about automation during the pandemic, rising to 51% of those aged under 20 and falling to 32% of 31-40 year olds.

Increased concern is especially common among those who work in legal (56%), insurance (48%), media (44%) and financial institutions (42%), while IT & tech and HR workers in the UK are among the least concerned.

Globally, 41% of respondent believe the risk of automation has increased over the last year. Customer service workers or other “white-collar” jobs like auditing, admin, HR and media/information roles, plus manual workers and IT/tech staff are more likely to be concerned about automation. Science, law and social care are among the least concerned globally.

Workers focused on learning and development

Over half (52%) of UK workers spend a few weeks learning every year – only 8% spend no time at all on self-development. Typically, the higher the formal education level, the less likely people are to spend a significant period of time learning.

Unsurprisingly, workers in the earlier stages of their opinion spend the most time learning (61% of 21-30 year olds). This is followed by people between the ages of 31 and 40, at 59%, showing that lifelong learning is still considered valuable as people progress in their career.

Learning preferences in the UK

1. On the job training (83%)
2. Self-study (63%)
3. Online institutions/courses (48%)
4. Traditional institutions/courses (academic/vocational degrees) (33%)
5. Conferences/seminars (32%)
6. Mobile apps (25%)
7. Government programmes (13%)

Learning preferences globally

1. On the job training (65%)
2. Self-study (62%)
3. Online institutions/courses (48%)
4. Conferences/seminars (41%)
5. Traditional institutions/courses (academic/vocational degrees) (37%)
6. Mobile apps (36%)
7. Government programmes (16%)

Dive deeper into global reskilling and career insights