Kress Participates in District Dialogues Discussion on Future of Work

On Tuesday evening, Anne M. Kress, president of NOVA, spoke at the most recent installment of ‘District Dialogues,’ a forum hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond that gives community members a unique opportunity to engage with experts about prevailing issues facing the region and beyond. This session focused on exploring how the future of work is changing human capital decisions, and what skills are needed in the economy of tomorrow.

Kress, joined by guests Kristen Broady, a Brookings Institution fellow and professor of financial economics at Dillard University (La.) and Jeff Strohl, director of research at the Georgetown University Center of Education and Workforce, discussed how to help individuals make the transition to jobs that are less likely to be automated in a hybrid world. Positions with high automation risk are positions that could potentially be replaced by technology. These positions include cashiers, retail workers and construction workers, which are disproportionately occupied by minoritized groups.

Questions asked of the panelists were around the future scope of work, how educational institutions can best prepare the future workforce as automation becomes increasingly common and how employer partnerships play a role.

Kress discussed the importance of investing in upskilling, saying “Our students’ ability to access skills of social and economic mobility is critical to help them access jobs that are less likely to be automated. A lot of the folks that are doing the high-risk automation jobs have skills that can translate well into careers if given access to education. There’s a real opportunity to think differently about these jobs and see the potential.”

Kress also noted, “The basic liberal arts education is key. We’ve learned over the decades that there will always be changes in skillset. I learned how to deal with uncertainty, how to be flexible and how to develop critical thinking with my degree. When you diversify the talent pool and provide access to quality education, students can constantly reinvent themselves to move with the future.”

For NOVA, employer partnerships are crucially important as Kress noted and NOVA highlighted on Twitter.

The District Dialogues series will continue in May, consulting leaders of education, workforce development and industry to understand, firsthand, the needs of communities. “This is an exciting time to help foster conversations about important issues of the day and the economic impact of how they are resolved,” said Sarah Gunn, director of economic education at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Submitted by:
Dawn Selak, Director of Communications, DSelak@nvcc.edu