Day 1 at World Economic Forum 2022 in Davos: What business leaders said

Up to 1 billion people will need reskilling, training and lifelong learning by 2030, says Infosys CEO Salil Parekh.

Salil Parekh, the chief executive officer of Indian IT services firm Infosys, on Monday told a meeting of global business leaders at Davos that technology is changing rapidly and people will have to be trained for it. He was among business leaders talking about change at the annual summit of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
 

Speaking at the session on 'Accelerating the Reskilling Revolution', Parekh said the accessibility is massive and with platforms like Coursera, it is easier to get skilled in a chosen field.

With labour markets in flux from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, technological shifts and the green transition, up to 1 billion people will need reskilling, training and lifelong learning by 2030.

Digital skills, in tandem with communication can help a lot in reskilling a person and is fast becoming the new landscape, the CEO added.

'Tech really enables all of us to reskill at speed. The second benefit is that the accessibility is massive.'

Salil S. Parekh, CEO of @Infosys, on the importance of technology.

Watch the session live: https://t.co/UdBu38YBaf #wef22 pic.twitter.com/cXtD4X4Anh

— World Economic Forum (@wef) May 23, 2022

Other than Parekh, there was Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director, WEF Geneva, Rana Foroohar, Global Business Columnist and Associate Editor, The Financial Times, Robert E. Moritz, Global Chairman, PwC, Lady Mariéme Jamme, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, iamtheCODE, Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO, Coursera Inc, and Najla Bouden, PM of Tunisia.

"Everything we've done in terms of rebranding ourselves, in terms of skills and relevancy, all comes back to how do we get our people better-enabled?," said Moritz.

.@Bob_Moritz, Global Chairman of @PwC: 'Everything we've done in terms of rebranding ourselves, in terms of skills and relevancy, all comes back to 'how do we get our people better-enabled?''

Watch the session live: https://t.co/UdBu38YBaf #wef22 pic.twitter.com/k2QInEeNuz

— World Economic Forum (@wef) May 23, 2022

Commenting on the learning process, the Coursera CEO said, "During the pandemic, technology really unlocked the possibility that people could continue to learn, even as 1.6 billion had their campuses closed".

'During the pandemic, technology really unlocked the possibility that people could continue to learn, even as 1.6 billion had their campuses closed.'

Jeff Maggioncalda, @coursera CEO, highlights technology's importance during a crisis.

Watch live: https://t.co/UdBu38YBaf #wef22 pic.twitter.com/lNX9H4hkbQ

— World Economic Forum (@wef) May 23, 2022

"Business will drive employment and employment will drive economy. As companies like us grow, it is important to know there are younger companies, at least 4 unicorns every month," Tech Mahindra CEO Gurnani told Business Standard, adding the future of Indian economy is bumpy but not many economies in the world are promising a 8-9 per cent growth.

The high-profile annual event began with a welcome reception on Sunday evening and will continue till Thursday.