What literacy means today
I often hear people talk about how COVID or the rise of AI will change the way we work, but it’s easy to forget how much work has already changed. My father’s father had physically demanding jobs, first on ranches and later as a machinist. He’d take his showers after work, not before. In contrast, for many white-collar workers, work is writing and talking with people — for our grandparents, that would have counted as a vacation… And while my grandfather and I both learned the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, his knowledge of how to plant crops and machine tools was more relevant than what he learned in school.
In the years since, technology has raised living standards and given people more of a chance to choose their own futures, often away from factories and fields. In 1900, over 10 million Americans were directly employed in agriculture; now it’s around 2.6 million (even while the US population increased five times).
The changing nature of work has changed the skills people need to be successful. Nearly two-thirds of jobs created in America since 2010 require mid- or high-level skills. If we’re serious about promoting shared prosperity, we need to give everyone a chance at an education that keeps up with technological change. And the ever-evolving nature of technology means that we’ll need to keep learning new things throughout our working lives. A flexible education system helps not just individuals, but economies and democracies that depend on workforces able to create and use cutting-edge tools.
Last week, Google launched a new website focused on learning — in school, at work and in life. It shows how our technology can help people sharpen their skills and explore new interests. What we consider “life skills” are constantly shifting and it’s not always easy to forecast the skills you need to keep ahead of the game. It’s now obvious that typing is an important skill in the computer age, but when I was at college it was still unusual for men to know how to type (an issue that continued to impact education and the workplace for some time). An early interest in computers and a high school typing class helped me in college when it came to writing papers and working on the campus newspaper.
More recently we’ve come to assume that learning computer programming is a vital part of digital skills — and indeed it has led to profitable jobs for millions. Going forward, there are growing signs that large language models of AI might automate more and more coding. But that doesn’t mean that digital skills writ large will become less valuable. In fact, a well-rounded digital education may be even more valuable. Just as learning mathematics is more about developing logical thinking than about the specifics (I haven’t used calculus since high school!), digital thinking can include understanding how computers and automation work, helping with problem-solving and engaging with future generations of technology. Understanding how our tools work will help set people up for jobs that we can’t even imagine today.
People shouldn’t need a college degree to get a good, middle-class job. But to achieve that goal, we’ll need to expand our focus beyond academic education and emphasize a new generation of technical and vocational education, plus apprenticeships that boost skills and can continue through a career. Digital thinking should be included on the curriculum at an early age as a fundamental part of modern literacy.
But education and training alone aren’t enough. It can be hard for people to persevere through classes when there’s no guarantee of a job on the other side. These kinds of programs take a village — governments, businesses, community colleges, and NGOs — contributing to comprehensive support. Partnerships have a crucial role to play. As just one example, in the UK and the US, Google has started building a training and apprenticeship program for IT support skills, with more than 100 companies signed up to consider graduates for jobs, no college degree required. Over six million Americans have enhanced their digital skills through one of Grow With Google’s many programs and we’re increasing our ambitions and support in this space. The Google Career Certificates program provides job training in fields like Data Analytics and IT Support, and we’ve provided over 100,000 need-based scholarships to help Americans, many from underrepresented groups, get access to high-paying high-growth jobs.
Beyond direct skilling programs, since 2017 Google.org has made over $200 million in grants to nonprofits working to promote equitable access to economic opportunity. Google.org supports organizations like Goodwill and NPower to provide both specific training designed to be market-relevant and a range of people skills, like presentations and teamwork. Many of these programs also include wraparound services like life skills coaching and mentorship, child care, and living stipends to help people get on paths to good jobs.
Ultimately, we’ll need to move beyond models that entirely depend on philanthropy. We need to develop programs and tools that can be financed by governments, employers, and capital markets. That’s why we’re exploring innovative solutions to help job seekers access affordable skills training to jump start their careers. In exploring these programs, we aim to find new ways to close the employment opportunity gap faced by millions of people.
What you need to know to do a job well has changed a lot since my grandfather’s time. And it’s not going to stop changing any time soon. It won’t be easy to make the “future of work” work for everyone. But with the right commitments, we can ensure that everyone has a chance to share in the benefits of an innovation economy.
