Future Skills report

Facing the future

Unprecedented changes are affecting every aspect of our lives and COVID-19 is having significant impact on young people’s expectations. This HKFYG survey explores their perspective and the need to respond.

The younger generation needs to be ready to cope with ongoing and emerging challenges so HKFYG conducted an online survey to gather their views on skills needed for the future. It also explored young people’s understanding of the “future skills” concept and how they define leadership qualities. The aim was to get a grasp of current trends and a clearer understanding of how resources might best be allocated by NGOs like the Federation to provide for future needs.

Key findings from youth

Over 35% lack the confidence needed to face the future.

Nearly 40% think soft skills such as teamwork, interpersonal skills and communication skills are crucial.

They believe important qualities for a future leader are integrity (50%), vision (40%), social responsibility (38%) and empathy (37%). Over 70% say chances to develop soft skills/ qualities are inadequate in Hong Kong.

Recommendations

Future skills development should aim at more than just enhanced employability. Life skills are equally important for overcoming emerging challenges. Balanced hard and soft skills should include practical knowledge and values education. Underlying skills such as empathy and media literacy are necessary. The ability to show respect for others and think positively is vital.

Six essential skills, attributes and attitudes are important to youth development

Digital skills

for example:

● Practical skills including coding and big data analysis ● Qualitative skills for better digital literacy

Artificial intelligence and automation are transforming the nature of work while technological advances continue to provide new ways of working and living. Strong practical digital skills are therefore very important and digital literacy provides the skills needed to live, learn, work and evaluate in a society where communication and access to information rely increasingly on internet platforms, social media and mobile devices.

Innovation & problem-solving

for example:

● Knowledge of STEM ● Logical thinking ● Curiosity

An innovative mindset increases the chances of responding well to change and new opportunities. Problem-solving is a vital life skill for work and daily life. The ability to innovate and solve problems can empower youth in both personal and professional life, helping them to create practical and creative solutions to 21st century challenges.

Life planning

for example:

● Career identification ● Financial literacy ● Money management ● Knowing how to learn

The decision-making process known as life planning includes financial planning. Regardless of the decision to be made, whether to study, choose a career or have a family, it involves management skills. With changes in demographic structure and the increasing number of elderly people, the ability to plan one’s life well is increasingly relevant and essential.

Communication & cooperation

for example:

● Language proficiency ● Empathy ● Leadership qualities

Interpersonal skills include communicating well, collaborating effectively and being able to take the lead. These are likely to remain irreplaceable skills despite the growth of AI. A prerequisite of skillful communication is the ability to express basic values and to show empathy and respect for others. Another is the cultivation of a broad perspective that helps to solve today’s complex problems.

Wellness management

for example:

● Management of physical and mental health ● Ability to be socially integrated/connected

All-round wellness includes physical, mental, social and spiritual health so it is important to have both a healthy body and a healthy mind. These can help young people build the self-awareness needed to cope with life’s challenges and lead meaningful lives.

Resilience and adaptability

for example:

Knowledge of crisis management and problemsolving

Entrepreneurial spirit

Adversity quotient*

The pandemic has underlined the importance of resilience and adaptability. Key elements to responding well to sudden change include knowing how to adapt and cope with crisis, being able to find solutions to practical problems while staying flexible and taking appropriate action when faced with adversity. The resilience needed for this can be nurtured through lifelong learning.

Online survey May 2020

Organizer HKFYG Leadership Institute

Respondents

625 youth aged 13-35, three experts from education, human resources and business sectors plus 10 HKFYG frontline youth workers

Experts and stakeholders interested in youth development contributed to this study, offering insight from various viewpoints and sectors.

Given the important role played by frontline youth social workers, a 10-member focus group comprising HKFYG staff offered their understanding of young people’s mindset and helped to build up a clearer definition of the skills they would needed in the future.

Published title Enhancing Skills for Future Challenges: a HKFYG Survey

Enquiries Christa Cheung tel 3755 7078

More details in Chinese

Fashion and flair at SIC

Discover both passion and perseverance in these two young entrepreneurs from HKFYG’s Social Innovation Centre (SIC). Intergravity’s Carmen knows that Rome wasn’t built in a day and Kenneth from Nearko has an eye for animation.

INTERGRAVITY NEARKO

“Fashion can balance beauty and sustainability,” says Carmen Ng of INTERGRAVITY, a social work graduate. She focuses on making products that are ethical both for people and safe for the environment but as she says, “They can also make wearers feel cozy.”

The traditional fashion industry - especially fast fashion - is the second most polluting in the world. “But it is not necessary to sacrifice the environment because people want to look stylish,” explains Carmen. “Fashion does not have to deprive factory workers in developing countries or sacrifice the ecosystem. We have worked with fabric suppliers all over the world and studied howwecan sourceeco-alternativesforfabric&trim. Clientsare always willing to pay a slightly higher price for sustainability.”

Since its establishment, INTERGRAVITY has helped more than 50 brands worldwide to create their collections. “Clients provides design sketches and ideas. We do the sourcing, production and quality control. We help emerging talented designers and brands to transform their ideas into real products,” Carmen continues, and she is happy to take small orders even though they mean less profit. “We understand how difficult it is to start a brand with limited resources. Rome is not built in a day. We aim to grow with the brand with mutual support in a long-term relationship.”

This year, INTERGRAVITY launched their own fashion line with the emphasis on sustainability and practicality. “Pandemic lockdowns have increased online shopping even in the fashion industry. It encourages customers who can buy eco-fashion at more affordable prices,” Carmen points out though she admits there are still many challenges.

The company has benefitted from several HKFYG Social Innovation Centre programmes including an interest fee loan, business clinics, mentorship and media exposure. “We appreciate all the useful resources and networks provided by HKFYG to stimulate our growth. It is not easy to build a business and unconditional support from others is always heart-warming,” says Carmen. Back in 2017, Kenneth and Deep from NEARKO created a cartoon brand called Journey to the Sweet with its own comics, animation and games for users to download and play on multiple platforms. That was just the start of it. “Now we focus on character design for licensing business and brands such as Such as Sanrio Hello Kitty, Line Friends, and Disney,” Kenneth explains.

Matching products and services with multimedia, Kenneth says the business fills market demand for promoting and packaging products. “We provide a series of cute characters that are instantly applicable to products.”

HKFYG’s Social Innovation Centre (SIC) provided Nearko with capital and consultancy support. “Both funding and consultants are very important in the startup period,” Kenneth stresses, going on to describe how most of the company’s offline corporate product licensing and mall exhibitions came to a sudden stop this year with the pandemic, especially because contacts with mainland China clients were delayed.

During this period, SIC held online consultancies and meetings to build knowledge of online marketing and help companies like Nearko enhance their experience with digital technologies. Kenneth hopes that SIC will continue to support startups like this and by offering funding, networking in future.

Highlighting SIC’s strengths, Kenneth points out that “Online product sales and online marketing promotion such as animation for YouTube and TIKTOK: this is where we are headed and we will place high value on introductions to major potential customers.”