Young talent prepares for tomorrow's workforce

To facilitate skills development and raise standards to meet the requirements of the future global workforce. These are among the objectives of the BRICS Leaders Xiamen Declaration.

By taking part in this year's Belt Road and BRICS Skills Competition in east China's Shandong Province, today's youngsters are getting ready for tomorrow's workforce.

The contestants were given minimal time to assemble, program and fly a drone. After several rounds of fierce contests, 50 drone pilots met each other at the final showdown.

"Now I know about the drone, it works similar to aircraft: we need the motherboard, we need to have all the parts fixed together, and we have to do the correct programming. Then it can fly," said Angkon Jahan, a Bangladeshi contestant.

With experts predicting that many jobs will be obsolete due to the future technological revolution, drones – and the demand for drone pilots – have emerged as a key growth industry.

Other than drones, this year's final has covered many areas which will be crucial for tomorrow's economy. Over 20 segments were organized, including 3D printing, VR design, and robotics. All, with one goal in common: to connect today's talents with tomorrow's jobs.

Assem Naurzbekova from Kazakhstan said: "Now, even organs can be printed by 3D printers, that's awesome. I hope that more people in my country can become interested in 3D printing studies."

Assem Naurzbekova (R) from Kazakhstan /CGTN Photo

The organizing committee is the BRICS Business Council. And, it is confident that digital, green, and service economies in the future will transform the labor market. This will require a more skilled workforce, and these competitions can help raise the standards in skills excellence.

Liu Hui, vice-president of the organizing committee, told CGTN that they are glad to see some South African participants from previous competitions have landed decent jobs in the world's top 500 companies after graduation. This is exactly why they've organized the competition – to help them build a career path.

Liu Hui, the vice president of the organizing committee of the 2019 Belt & Road and BRICS Skills Competition. /CGTN Photo

Some of the winning teams will head to Kazan in Russia for this year's world skills competition in August. As for the other youngsters, many are inspired by new ideas from the event on building a better future career.

(Top image: 2019 Belt & Road and BRICS Skills competition in Shandong Province /CGTN Photo)

(CGTN)