WHY LIFELONG LEARNING, NOT DEGREES, WILL DEFINE CAREERS BY 2035

The corporate sector is about to enter an era of unprecedented transformation, as in the coming years the emphasis will be more on proven skills and less on degrees.

- NEERAJ AGARWAL

The speed of technological advancement is showing that the knowledge gained through a traditional degree in many cases will be obsolete in just a few years.

This reality is already seen in a 2024 Forbes survey, where 65% of the hiring managers indicate willingness to hire on the basis of skills alone, without traditional education or work experience. These statistics indicate one reality that in the years to come, upskilling will be the cornerstone of employability and expansion.

DRIVING SKILL-FIRST HIRING The rising need for skill-first hiring is also seen in employment trends worldwide. Based on the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, 22% of the jobs of today will transform within five years because of technological innovation, transitions for sustainability, and demographic changes. Conventional degrees can give a solid foundation, but they cannot match this pace of innovation. What companies are looking for today are responsive professionals capable of filling gaps in skills by transferring learning to the problem at hand. This transformation secures upskilling not as a career enhancer, but as the very exchange of employability and development.

THE DRIVING FORCES BEHIND CONTINUOUS LEARNING To this date, there are several powerful forces behind this transformation. For instance, automation and artificial intelligence are redefining businesses by automating routine and monotonous tasks.