Experts harp on digital revolution

Experts have urged workers and business owners to upskill and enhance their relevance in the digital era.

They spoke at a three-day 2022 International Work Festival themed, ‘the future of work in a technology-driven world (Work-Humans)’, organised by Human Resources Expo Africa (HREA).

The founder of HREA, Erefa Coker, stated that it was important to solve digitalisation challenges to improve productivity in the workplace.

She said: “Instead of taking workers out of job, it is important that employers help their employees to upskill. There are many courses online that the employee can explore. You cannot stop learning.

“Employers of labour must learn new ways and see what they can take back to their workplace to help them design solutions that will enable their workers to be happier,” she said.

She noted that because it is humans that drive technology, there is a need for workers to empower themselves digitally to be able to use the technology.

“Nigeria is fast becoming a technology hub. We have Nigerians who work for different companies in America. We are going to become India at some point, once we get a lot of things right in the country.

“Once the government puts the infrastructure in place, we will have young population talent. The education system is fixed so that people get quality education and our education system reflects what is happening in the world so that it is not until I come out of a university that I know how to use a computer.”

The Chief Executive of Willway Paradime, Dolapo Agbede, said that persons with disabilities (PWDs) also have talents and deserve an opportunity in the workplace.

Agbede implored organisations to be disability-inclusive and to up-skill their employees living with disabilities to help them earn an income with dignity.

“Our organisation, Willway Paradime, we can connect people who want to learn to people who are ready to teach. And then with the connection between those two, when they have now learnt, we can also connect them to where they can work.

“So we serve as a bridge; we say that we are NEXUS of social engineering because we are ensuring that we are changing the way people see persons with disabilities, technology because that is the way we are going to work in the future. And disability inclusion because they are the social parts of the cycle, the social part of interacting and being productive with persons with disabilities.”