Young professionals say they aren’t prepared for Industry 4.0 FSCA probes FPI’S exam ‘irregularities’

DESPITE growing up with computers in their homes and smartphones in their hands, few young professionals feel they are prepared for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), according to a recent study by Deloitte.

The modern workplace is characterised by the marriage of physical and digital technologies, such as analytics, artificial intelligence, cognitive computing and the Internet of Things (IOT), Deloitte’s seventh annual Millennial Survey says.

Tumi Seakatso, the talent strategies leader for Deloitte’s Human Capital Southern Africa practice, says millennials and Generation Z feel they are not being prepared for Industry 4.0. “In their view, businesses are not responsive to their developmental needs,” Seakatso says.

“Just 36% of millennials and

42% of Generation Z respondents reported that their employers were helping them to understand and prepare for the changes associated with Industry 4.0.”

Millennials are people aged between 23 and 34, while Gen Z are those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s.

The survey found that 36% of millennials and 29% of Gen Zs who are currently employed believe they have the skills and knowledge required to flourish in Industry 4.0.

Only 17% of millennials expect that digitisation will replace, or partially replace, their jobs, but

32% of millennials who work for organisations that use Industry 4.0 technologies extensively believe this will be the case.

Lee-anne Letcher, the product manager at Canon SA, says rapid advancements in automation, the IOT and voice activation will play a bigger role in how people work.

“In the next few years, we can expect to see automation and augmented robotics being used more consistently in the workplace, largely to remove the mundane, repetitive jobs that sap time and inspiration,” says Letcher.

A World Economic Forum report titled “The future of jobs and skills in Africa: preparing the region for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” found that in South Africa, 39% of the core skills required for all jobs will be different by 2020, while 41% of jobs are susceptible to automation.

A recent report by Mckinsey found that 375 million workers around the world may have to switch occupational categories and learn new skills, because in about 60% of jobs at least one-third of the work can be automated.

Maura Feddersen, an economist at PWC, says encouraging young South Africans to study science, engineering and technology will be crucial if the country is to take advantage of emerging technology.

“Already, the nature of work is shifting, as emerging technology becomes integral to how businesses operate,” Feddersen says. “New jobs are emerging for those who produce and manage these intelligent systems.” kabelo.khumalo@inl.co.za THE FINANCIAL Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) has instructed the Financial Planning Institute (FPI) to discontinue holding regulatory examinations, and has launched a full-scale investigation into the FPI’S examination department.

The FSCA says this comes after the authority was alerted to alleged irregularities in the delivery of the exams.

All exams will be delivered by the exam body Moonstone until further notice. Nobody who has written the exam in the past will be affected by this development, except those who are implicated in the alleged irregularities, the FSCA says.

In a statement released this week, the FPI said: “To affirm the commitment to the mission of ethical standards in the financial services industry that put the interests of consumers first, the

FPI supports the FSCA’S decision to suspend all examinations conducted at the FPI examination body in the process of the investigations.

“All affected candidates will be reverted to Moonstone, effective immediately. There will be no disruptions to the dates or the venues of the examinations. Moonstone will communicate directly with all candidates regarding any details pertaining to the exam.

“The FPI is fully co-operating with the FSCA and respective authorities to help further their respective investigations. Where misconduct is established, the appropriate regulatory action will be taken.

“The FPI takes this matter seriously, as it casts significant doubt on the ability of the FPI examination body to protect and maintain the integrity of the financial services industry. The institute is committed to protecting the integrity and credibility of the regulatory examinations.

“The FPI examination body activities are ring-fenced from the other aspects of its business from a membership and certification perspective, and it will continue to serve its members accordingly.” – Staff Reporter