Upskilling, Reskilling, and How Work Is Being Rebuilt
Trends | New Stardom
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Entire job categories are being reshaped by automation, new technology, and new business models, while companies and workers try to understand how to remain relevant when the nature of work itself keeps shifting.
Upskilling and reskilling
Upskilling means learning new competencies within an existing role, such as using more advanced tools, analysing data or managing hybrid teams. Reskilling means preparing for a different occupation altogether, often in another part of the organisation or sector. The first helps firms modernise, the second helps workers remain employable when roles disappear.
Call centres are the clearest example of how automation changes work without necessarily removing it. Simple queries are now handled by chatbots, while more complex issues require human judgment, empathy and cross-channel coordination. But full automation has proved far less straightforward than predicted.
Gartner estimates that only one in five AI-service deployments meets business expectations, and that as many as 80 percent of routine requests could be automated by 2029, but only if firms have clean, extensive data and consistent oversight. In practice, maintaining that oversight is expensive. Training data, content moderation and regulatory compliance still rely on human teams.
Some delivery and telecoms companies have learned that automation works only when experienced staff supervise it. When AI systems respond without context, the error rate and customer dissatisfaction rise sharply. Many of these firms are now retraining their existing agents to monitor, correct and refine AI output rather than replacing them outright. The result is not a vanishing workforce but a redesigned one, with fewer people answering calls and more managing knowledge systems, analytics and escalation processes.
This is what upskilling looks like in real terms: teaching employees to operate new tools that make service faster and more reliable. Reskilling follows when those same workers move into digital operations or data quality roles, where their frontline knowledge still matters but the tasks are different.
Similar transitions are taking place elsewhere. Accountancy firms are training auditors to oversee automated checks rather than perform them manually. Car manufacturers are turning experienced assembly workers into robotics technicians. Retail chains are retraining managers to run logistics and e-commerce systems. In every case, training existing staff is cheaper and faster than hiring externally.
Labour market data supports this approach. PwC research shows that companies investing consistently in workforce development record roughly one-third higher employee retention. Across Europe, governments are reinforcing the same logic through policy. The EU Skills Agenda, along with national initiatives such as the Netherlands’ Leven Lang Ontwikkelen scheme, subsidises continuous education for adults whose roles are changing or disappearing.
Upskilling keeps people employable within their field, while reskilling allows them to move when their field begins to contract. The line between the two is where long-term job security now rests and it is not a negotiable anymore. Staying relevant in today’s job market means reskilling or upskilling continuously, as work trends and required skills shift faster than ever.
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