Asia Pacific to face labour shortage of 12.3 mn workers by 2020: Study

The business needs and the technology landscape in the world are changing rapidly, and so are also the requirement of the skillsets to help organisations manage these complexities. The Asia Pacific (APAC) region, including India, China, Australia, Japan and Singapore and a few others, has been a large and steady supplier of skilled workforce as the region exports more talent than it imports. However, the region is also expected to face a huge talent crunch of individuals trained in newer technologies and business skills, finds a LinkedIn report on “Future of Skills 2019”. It is estimated that APAC will face a labour shortage of 12.3 million workers by 2020 which may rise to 47 million in the following decade. This represents an annual opportunity cost of $4.2 trillion, according to a study by Korn Ferry. Globally, an average of 42 per cent of the core skills required to perform a job will change between 2018 and 2022, the report finds.