Difference Between Upskilling and Reskilling

The recent digital revolution has given rise to some new professions requiring skills in technologies like Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning. Due to this, the big companies are falling short of the right talent that is required to carry out these functions and roles at work. As per reports from McKinsey and Company, it has been recently made clear that the current market and jobs are failing to match the ever-increasing advances in the technical fields. In the business world today, words like “upskilling” and “reskilling” are becoming more common. Let’s read the blog below to understand the meaning and the major difference between upskilling and reskilling.

Due to the emergent need for rightly skilled talent, the World Economic Forum has declared the need for upskilling and reskilling of professionals. With the immediate arrival of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, companies have restructured internally incorporating various technologies into use. This has led to the extreme realization by the professionals of their growing need to learn new skills. 

Also Read: How to Be More Confident?

Navigating the Learning Landscape: Upskilling and Reskilling

In this world, where many jobs are being taken over by AIs, there still exist some tasks that need to be achieved only by highly skilled professionals. For this reason, several companies have started training to “upskill” their staff so that they can cope with the emergent global industrialization needs. In a similar manner, the current workforce should keep on adding to their pre-existing technical skills in order to have a sustained job that is also high-paying. This calls for a need for “upskilling” and “reskilling”. But before moving forward, one must understand what both these terms mean and what is the difference between upskilling and reskilling. This will give an idea of whether one needs to go for upskilling or reskilling and how to approach either one of them. 

Also Read: How to Answer, ‘Do You Consider Yourself Successful” in an Interview?

What is Upskilling?

Upskilling refers to advancing the skills of the current workforce in an organization by use of training and development. This trend of continuous learning helps the workforce get acquainted with the most recent trends in their area of expertise and helps in the filling of skill gaps. Upskilling helps professionals learn new skills within their current organization so that they can work on new roles and opportunities.

Why is Upskilling Important?

Read the section ahead if you are wondering why upskilling is important. As the newly emerging technologies keep on impacting how organizations operate, companies and employees need to add new skills so that can keep up with the growing needs of the industrially revolutionizing workplace.  

By training and upskilling their current employees, companies can save a lot of time and money which is used for hiring new employees. Alongside, most employees anticipate health insurance, paid holidays and opportunities for growth more than the salary alone. In this situation, training conducted by the companies to help upskill their current workforce gives a sense of job security and makes the employees feel valued at their workplace. Hence, the importance of upskilling can be summed up below.

1. Saves a lot of money and time for a company that is used up hiring new employees.
2. Upskilling helps the current workforce in a company to add valuable skills to their current set of skills. This enables them to optimize their day-to-day tasks using the new skills. 
3. Upskilling helps the organization in filling the skill gaps in the technical field. This way the employees remain up-to-date with the emerging advancements and the company remains competitive in the market. 
4. Upskilling gives a sense of job security to the employees in a company. Hence, it may help in employee retention.

Also Read: 20+ Manager Interview Questions + Sample Answers

What is Reskilling? 

Reskilling also involves a set of new skills to improve employees’ skill sets within their current organization. Companies conduct training to reskill employees when they are required to perform a different role. This can be useful for employees who fit better for a different role but end up doing an entirely different role. 

Why is Reskilling Important?

Reskilling of employees at the workplace is important because of the following reasons:

1. It enhances the skill sets of the current workforce.
2. The company can rely on the current experienced employees to take on the new roles upon being reskilled. 
3. Whenever due to technological advancements, new vacancies are created in a company, companies can opt for reskilling their employees so they can be adjusted to the newer roles rather than hiring a whole new team. This saves a lot of money for the company. 

Also Read: How to Answer “Do You Prefer Working Independently or in a Team” in an Interview?

Difference Between Upskilling and Reskilling 

While the meaning of upskilling and reskilling may sound similar, there is a fine difference between the two. Thus, you must understand both for future professional growth.  

While both upskilling and reskilling mean adding new skills to the current skill sets of the employees, the difference between them lies in their objectives. The employees add new skills to their skill sets either through the company’s training or by taking measures themselves. But the difference between the both is in the purpose of the skill enhancement activity. 

The term upskilling is referred to when value addition is done to enhance the employees’ day-to-day tasks. This will improve their work and competitively optimize them. While, reskilling refers to the value addition to the tasks. It is done for role-change of the employee, to give them a newer role and opportunity within the organization.    

Also Read: Top Technical Skills to Enhance Your Resume

Related Blogs:

Learning Skills For Students & Working Professionals	Top Seven Employment Skills Provided by Studying Abroad
Skill Development Courses List	Why are Transferable Skills Important? Definitions & Types
10 Organizational Skills Every Student Must Have	All About Skill Development Training Programs & Courses
Importance of Soft Skills for Career Growth	Decision Making Skills: Meaning and Examples

FAQs

This was all about the difference between upskilling and reskilling. For more such informative blogs, visit the career counselling page of Leverage Edu.