🛠️ Skills and Workforce #40

Hello 👋

This week’s skills and workforce landscape reveals mounting challenges in labor supply alongside robust global efforts to equip workers with future-ready capabilities across green energy, manufacturing, digital, and health sectors. Skilled trades shortages intensify pressures on the Canadian labor market as retirements outpace replacements seven to one, risking disruption in construction, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors without urgent reskilling efforts. Switzerland’s AI startup Work-ID raised $4.9M to combat global skills mismatches by enhancing talent matching with AI, reflecting a broader trend toward technology-driven workforce optimization.

Major green skills drives launch across India and Nigeria, including Andhra Pradesh’s largest renewable energy training program targeting 12,000 youth and 750,000 green jobs, and Nigeria’s Oando Foundation selecting 25 youths for intensive climate tech training. In advanced manufacturing, India trains smart manufacturing trainers in Taiwan to boost Industry 4.0 adoption, while Australia’s $65B ‘2025 Workforce Plan’ aims to future-proof manufacturing through skills in clean tech and digitalization. Infosys plans to hire 20,000 graduates with a focus on AI skills, and Pegasystems partners with UEM Kolkata to certify engineering students in digital technologies. Australia invests $30M to upskill aged care workers and launches specialized women’s health workforce programs in Victoria to address critical care demands.

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Global Labor Market Trends

📉 Skilled Trades Shortage Pressures Canadian Labor Market. Canada is losing skilled tradespeople at a rate of seven retirees for every one replacement, creating a growing void in sectors like construction, manufacturing, and infrastructure. Without urgent reskilling, the economy faces disruption and stalled projects.

💼 Swiss AI Startup Tackles Global Skills Mismatch. Work-ID raised $4.9M to address growing global skills shortages using AI-powered talent matching. By improving hiring accuracy and candidate visibility, the platform aligns talent with demand, reflecting a wider shift toward tech-driven workforce optimization amid labor imbalances.

💊 Bayer Cuts 12,000 Jobs Amid Pharma Overhaul. Bayer’s $2.7B restructuring includes 12,000 job cuts globally, driven by productivity reforms and business realignment. The move mirrors broader shifts in the pharmaceutical industry, as companies streamline operations, embrace automation, and adapt to evolving global healthcare and labor market dynamics.

Green Skills

☀️ AP Launches India’s Largest RE Skilling Drive. Andhra Pradesh, in collaboration with Suzlon Energy and the Swaniti Initiative, launched India’s largest renewable energy skilling program to train 12,000 youth in solar and wind technologies over four years. The initiative supports the creation of 750,000 green jobs and positions the state as a global clean-energy talent hub.

💡 Oando Launches Green Youth Upskilling in Nigeria. The Oando Foundation, in partnership with the Nigerian Climate Innovation Center, introduced the Green Youth Upskilling Programme, selecting 25 youths from over 8,000 applicants. The nine-month training covers renewable energy, sustainable waste management, and climate technology, and includes mentorship, hands-on learning, and seed funding to support green entrepreneurship and job readiness.

🚐 Eicher Training Van Empowers 300 Students. The ASDC-VECV Eicher Training Van initiative trained over 300 students across four institutes. The mobile training van delivered hands-on skilling in diagnostics and vehicle systems, bridging academic theory with real-world application, and preparing job-ready engineers for a rapidly evolving sector.

Advanced Manufacturing Skills

⚡ Canada Launches Intensive Cleantech Manufacturing Training. Foresight Canada’s AME-UP program returns in an eight-week format to upskill engineers for sustainable manufacturing. Funded by Upskill Canada, it delivers technical training, industry projects, and IP strategy development to equip professionals with skills in cleantech innovation and accelerate the transition to low-emission manufacturing in Canada.

🛠️ India’s NPC and ACMA Advance Smart Manufacturing Skills in Taiwan with APO Support. India’s National Productivity Council and ACMA are training engineers and officials to become smart manufacturing trainers for automotive SMEs. Conducted in Taiwan with APO support, the program covers Industry 4.0, IoT, AI, and data analytics to drive technology adoption and boost India’s manufacturing competitiveness.

🏗️ Australia Unveils National Plan to Upskill Manufacturing Workforce. The ‘2025 Workforce Plan’ sets a national strategy to future-proof Australia’s manufacturing sector with over $65B in investment. It focuses on strengthening skills in clean technology, digitalisation, and domestic manufacturing capacity, while modernising apprenticeships and addressing talent gaps to support innovation, resilience, and sustained economic competitiveness.

AI & Digital Skills

🧠 UpEducators and Google for Education are training over 10,000 Indian educators in AI literacy and classroom integration. The July–December 2025 initiative includes virtual and in-person workshops on tools like Gemini, prompt writing, ethical AI use, and creative applications, empowering K–12 and college teachers with practical, use–case–driven AI skills.

💡 Infosys announced it plans to hire 20,000 graduates in 2025, with a sharp focus on AI and upskilling. The CEO confirmed the hiring plan, following 17,000 recruits in Q1. Infosys has trained 2.75 lakh employees in AI and digital skills, aiming to blend automation with advanced human capabilities and strengthen its long-term talent and tech edge.

🤖 Pegasystems and UEM Kolkata launch 4-year digital skills program for engineering students. Through the ‘Graduation with Digital Skills’ initiative, 100+ students annually will earn global Pega certifications, gain hands-on experience, and benefit from internships, industry mentorship, and faculty upskilling, enhancing employability and building a strong tech talent pipeline in Eastern India.

Health Skills

🏥 Australia Invests $30M to Upskill Regional Aged Care Workers. Australia allocates over $30M to train and retain aged care workers in rural and regional areas. The initiative addresses critical labor shortages, improves care quality, and strengthens workforce resilience amid rising demand for elder care services nationwide.

🩺 South Carolina Expands Funding to Ease Physician Shortage. South Carolina increases state funding to expand medical education and residency programs, aiming to reduce critical physician shortages. The program supports training capacity growth, retention efforts, and improved healthcare access in underserved communities across the state.

👩‍⚕️ Victoria Launches Women’s Health Workforce Upskilling. Victoria introduces targeted upskilling programs focused on women’s health professionals. The initiative enhances clinical knowledge, promotes specialized care, and responds to rising demand for gender-sensitive health services, strengthening workforce capacity across public health sectors.

Thank you for reading. Have a great week ahead!
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