GCC is 'ideal' place to upskill future workforce: PwC

The GCC is an ideal place for transforming, training and upskilling the workforce of the future, consultancy firm PwC said in a recent report.

GCC’s youth population is predicted to reach 65 million by 2030, it said, adding the region, however, faces a daunting shift in demographics, known as the “youth bulge”, since around 60 percent of its citizens are under the age of 30.

The report, citing data from the World Economic Forum, said youth joblessness stands at 11 percent in the UAE, 20 percent in Oman and 27 percent in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. 

“Countries with visionary leaders that support enabling conditions for the adoption of the digital economy, will encourage the design of new, innovative solutions for their educational and vocational training systems,” Laurent Probst, a partner at PwC Luxembourg, government digital transformation & innovation leader, wrote in the report, which was released at the World Government Summit in Dubai last week.

“This region has a very young, vibrant and digitally-savvy population, coupled with very forward-thinking leadership. You need to only to consider such modern roles as the recently created Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, or a Ministry for Happiness and Tolerance, or the recently announced Centre of Excellence for the Fourth Industrial Revolution to see that what makes this region is a place where innovation and digital initiatives are at the forefront, making it an ideal place for transforming, training and upskilling the workforce of the future,” he added.