Ask any business leader what big challenges they face and it’s likely that skills and labor shortages will be high on their list. They’re concerned about how to develop the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow. According to the World Economic Forum’s latest Future of Jobs Report 2023, organizations across all industries identify skills gaps and an inability to attract talent as the key barriers preventing industry transformation.

There’s a potential solution to all of this: a “skills-first” approach. The new report, Putting Skills First: A Framework for Action, launched during the World Economic Forum’s Growth Summit, finds that switching to a skills-first mindset can directly benefit over 100 million people globally who’re currently under-utilizing their existing skills, because they’re under-employed in their current job or because they’re unemployed. The analysis, which covers 18 economies, finds workforce under-utilization ranges from 4% of the working population in Thailand, to 7% in the US, 13% in France, 27% in Brazil and 43% in South Africa.

A skills-first approach focuses on a person’s skills and competencies rather than on their qualifications or job history, so that what someone can do becomes far more important than which university they went to. Crucially, this focus on skills continues long after the worker has been hired, with an emphasis on continually developing their abilities right through their career.

Making skills a priority is fairly advantageous. For businesses, taking a skills-first approach dramatically increases the potential pool of talent from which they can draw on. For individuals, it provides access to good jobs that offer skills building, career progression and higher earning potential which they’d otherwise have been excluded from without the right qualifications.

Delivering such ground-breaking change requires more than simply the involvement of HR teams. It’ll require the commitment of CEOs and policy-makers at the highest level to drive it through. So far a company in UK has introduced a range of degree apprenticeship (学徒制) programs which enable applicants without a degree to gain one while working at the firm. The organization is also developing new career paths to ensure it has the right skills to meet the changing needs of the economy.

Do you remember being asked what you wanted to be when you grew up? No doubt the more imaginative your answer, the more approval you would get. But once we reach adolescence (青春期), there’s far less tolerance for answers like, “I’m going to be a marine biologist, circus clown and journalist!” Now the question translates as You are allowed one identity in this life, so which is it?

At university you need to choose a subject to major in, which leads to one specific degree, intended for one type of job. The message that you need to specialise is reinforced (强化) in many contexts. Career guidance books and counsellors give you tests to help you identify your dream job.

But what happens if you’re curious about several subjects, and there are many things you’d like to study? If you’re unable or unwilling to settle on a single career path, you might worry that you don’t have one true calling like everybody else and that, therefore, your life lacks purpose. As the saying goes, you’re a “jack of all trades, master of none”.

In reality, the ambitious young people of today are more interested in moving around and doing different things. In the modern workplace, people are working flexibly and the individual is in control of their professional life and in a position to make decision s about how, when and where they work. Rather than finding something and doing it forever, the new challenge is to find a way of working that works for you.

This new flexible workplace is one where generalists feel at ease. People who have a range of interests are suited to the modern workplace in two essential ways. Firstly, they are used to combining two or more fields and it is at the intersection (十字路口) between seemingly unrelated ideas that innovation often happens. Secondly, people who change roles frequently are less afraid of trying new things and stepping out of their comfort zones. They’re fast learners.

In the US, tornadoes(龙卷风） are responsible for 80 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries each year. Although they happen quite frequently, tornadoes are difficult to predict. Why? Tornadoes develop from storms, but only some storms are likely to become tornadoes. Scientists don’t know where and when a storm will touch the ground and turn into a tornado. Today, the warning time for a tornado is usually just 13 minutes.

Time Samaras is a storm chaser. His job is to find tornados and follow them.When he gets close to a tornado, he puts a special tool called a turtle probe on the ground. This tool measures things like a tornado’s temperature, humidity (湿度), and wind speed. With this information, Samaras can learn what causes tornadoes to develop. If meteorologists(气象学家) understand this, they can warn people about tornadoes sooner and save lives.

How does Samaras hunt tornadoes? It’s not easy. First, he has to find one Tornadoes are too small to see using weather satellites. So Samaras can’t rely on these tools to find a tornado. Instead, he waits for tornadoes to develop. Every May and June, Samaras drivers about 40,000 kilometers across an area known as ToknownTornado Alley, looking and hoping to spot a tornado.

Once Samaras sees a tornado, the chase begins. But a tornado is hard to follow. Some tornadoes change direction several times—for example,moving east and then west and then east again. When Sanaras finally gets near a tonrnado, he puts the turtle probe on the ground. Being this close to a tornado is terrifying. Debris (碎片) is flying in the air . Then wind is blowing at high speed. He must get away quickly.

The work is risky, even for a skilled chaser like Samaras. But danger won’t stop his hunt for the perfect storm.