7 innovative ways to unlock funding for a global reskilling revolution

Technology is on track to transform 1.1 billion jobs by 2030. In the US alone, 1.37 million workers could be displaced from their roles in the next decade as a result of the adoption of new technology. These workers could be reskilled to perform new roles that require a similar skillset and pay higher wages, however. Reskilling would cost $34 billion or $24,800 per displaced worker, on average.

Currently, there is limited reliable information available about the business case and the return on investment of such upskilling and reskilling initiatives. This lack of clarity on where and how much to invest creates a similar challenge for employees, who don’t know how much to invest themselves. The same can be said for potential financial supporters of upskilling and reskilling efforts such as specific government entities and programmes, businesses and labour unions.

As of 2024, Reskilling Revolution, a World Economic Forum initiative, has gathered commitments from various organizations to reskill, upskill and train 680 million people around the world. But turning these commitments into tangible action will require a critical look at the costs associated with lifelong learning. It will also require more innovative models for fairly distributing responsibility for training across individuals, employers and governments.

Members of the World Economic Forum Future Skills Alliance have identified four key principles to consider when financing lifelong learning, upskilling and reskilling initiatives:

The following seven initiatives have used these principles to create funding models that provide skills development, upskilling and reskilling in a wide range of contexts:

Using a blended funding model, this initiative provides technical training to Siemens’ workforce and that of its external partners. The content draws partly from the company’s vocational education training on digitalization and sustainability. By securing government co-financing of up to 25% under Germany’s Qualification Opportunities Act and sharing training costs with its partners, Siemens can ensure long-term employability and alignment with evolving industry demands for its workers.

Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families, together with Skillsoft, delivers the Onward to Opportunity programme. This approach to reskilling provides servicemen and women, and their spouses, with in-demand technology certifications in cloud, cybersecurity, networking and project management. The programme is financed through an innovative blend of corporate sponsorships, federal grants and private donations. This creates a sustainable funding base while aligning with the university's mission-driven partnerships.

This programme uses a 100% outcome-based government-funded model to offer fully accessible tech bootcamps to Bahraini nationals. It is led by tech and artificial intelligence training provider General Assembly, part of the Adecco Group, and Tamkeen, a government agency that supports private sector training. The programme aligns this training with industry needs to address skill gaps and advance Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 goals. This approach, powered by public-private collaboration, focuses on emerging technology and digital skills training in particular.

ADTC and nonprofit Social Finance have partnered to tackle the shortage of diesel technicians in the US. This programme provides a condensed, affordable training route for underserved communities. Funded with nearly $9 million from Social Finance’s UP Fund, this initiative also uses a flat-fee repayment model where employers cover training costs for many graduates. This makes it a sustainable, accessible pathway to economic mobility for the workforce.

Saudi Aramco has used its expertise in vocational training to establish National Training Centers with the government to address certain skill requirements in technical and vocational fields through an employment-led training scheme. These centres align education with industry demand in sectors like energy and manufacturing to foster long-term workforce development. This initiative relies on a unique contribution scheme in which Saudi Aramco provides startup funding and technical expertise, while the government provides training facilities, approvals and subsidies to sponsoring companies.

This programme from Majid Al Futtaim addresses skill alignment for Emirati talent in high-demand sectors, providing "power skills" workshops for career growth. This includes on-the-job and employability training to upskill and reskill local talent. The training covers communication, resilience, critical thinking, adaptability and change-readiness. The programme's public-private funding model sees 70% of costs funded by the government through the Abu Dhabi Global Market and 30% covered by employers.

The AWS Skills to Jobs Tech Alliance is a global coalition that aims to address the technology skills gap by collaborating with employers, government agencies, workforce development organizations and education leaders. The initiative operates in 11 countries and adopts a collaborative funding model of co-investment from AWS, employers and governments. AWS provides – at no cost to the learners – access to learning materials, cloud credits for applied learning activities using AWS technical resources and support for educator enablement. Regional governments contribute by allocating budget for educators’ professional development in digital skills.

These investments in adult learning all aim to address current skill shortages and build future talent pipelines, creating specific pathways into work through training, upskilling, learning on the job and reskilling for job transitions. Each programme is delivered within a specific context and faces individual challenges, suggesting the importance of alignment on funding.

To monitor success, these initiatives measure four different levels of impact:

All organizations involved measure the impact on adoption and engagement (level one), while a smaller proportion measure levels two and three.

The next step for these initiatives – level four – will be a shift from tracking the number of people they reach to achieving real, measurable outcomes in terms of business and economic impact including job accessibility, placement rates, economic mobility, and improving productivity and competitiveness. There is certainly a need for more longitudinal tracking of data and outcomes on how upskilling and reskilling initiatives are contributing to business productivity and economic growth.

As the global workforce faces the monumental challenge of adapting to new technology, these initiatives are already showing how we can start distributing the responsibility for funding training, upskilling and reskilling more equally across learning providers, employers, individuals and governments.