Helping young professionals become indispensable in the AI-driven labor market
AS companies increasingly integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations, a critical question emerges: Are we — as a society that includes employers, educators, policymakers and technology providers — preparing young people for a workplace where essential AI skills will very soon become the norm while many traditional entry-level tasks may soon be automated? To achieve this goal, our collective efforts need to address three fundamental challenges.
AI CHALLENGE Generative AI tools have democratized access to powerful AI capabilities, making these technologies relevant to virtually every industry and role. THE MANILA TIMES FILE PHOTO
The urgency gap
Despite AI’s growing influence across industries, the urgency for workers to upskill in AI remains low. In a recent marketing study, researchers found that the more knowledge people have about AI, the less likely they are to embrace it. In addition, there may be a misconception that AI literacy only matters for those in technical fields. This belief is dangerous.
In the Philippines, AI adoption is growing rapidly. Research shows that over 250,000 businesses, representing more than a fifth of all companies in the country, are actively using AI, with 64 percent reporting revenue growth and 70 percent noting productivity gains. Yet despite this rapid uptake, more than half of businesses report that a lack of digital skills is the biggest barrier limiting further AI adoption and expansion. This widening skills gap threatens the Philippines’ ability to remain globally competitive. Businesses anticipate that AI literacy will be required in 61 percent of jobs over the next three years, yet only 26 percent say their current workforce is adequately prepared.
Generative AI tools have democratized access to powerful AI capabilities, making these technologies relevant to virtually every industry and role. The administrative assistant drafting communications, the marketing coordinator analyzing campaign data and the HR specialist screening resumes — all will need to work alongside AI tools that augment their capabilities. Most workers do not recognize how quickly AI literacy has shifted from optional to essential, leaving many graduates unprepared for even entry-level positions that increasingly require these skills. That is why we need to keep raising awareness of the importance of continuous learning — and there is no time to lose when AI advancements are moving at lightning speed.
Deepened education-industry collaboration
While some higher education institutions have begun incorporating AI into their curricula, AI companies have a role in helping accelerate this movement. As a result of the rapid pace of technological transformation, the “half-life of skills” — the time it takes for a skill to lose half its relevance — is shrinking exponentially. Research found that it has collapsed from 10-15 years to five years, and even shorter for technical skills. In this environment, professionals must embrace the habit of everyday learning through small, manageable lessons to ensure their skills remain relevant even as technology advances at lightning speed.
Our educational systems were not designed for this pace of change. The gap is particularly pronounced at institutions serving underrepresented or underserved communities. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, colleges with wealthier students are more likely than those with lower-income students to offer courses that incorporate cutting-edge knowledge.
That is why enhanced public-private partnerships that bring real-world AI applications directly into classrooms are important. AWS Academy is a program that offers free AI and cloud computing curricula to more than 6,600 institutions globally, including accredited institutions in the Philippines such as Enderun Colleges, De La Salle University and Mapúa University. By the end of 2025, the program had grown to 63 active institutional members across the Philippines, reflecting strong nationwide adoption. Recently, the program expanded by offering AWS Academy students free access to advanced AI training and resources, along with AWS Certification vouchers. These industry-recognized certifications demonstrate to employers that candidates have the practical skills and knowledge to excel in their roles.
Building on this approach, our collaboration with Ateneo de Manila University through the Ateneo Business Insights Laboratory for Development (Build) led to the launch of the Innovation Sandbox on AWS — making Ateneo the first university in the Philippines to implement this framework. The sandbox gives student innovators and startup teams structured and secure access to cloud resources. This allows them to develop and test real-world solutions while ensuring proper governance and cost controls.
Another example in the Philippines is AWS’s collaboration with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), which supports nationwide online learning platforms that expand access to skills training for millions of Filipinos. This includes the recently launched Tesda Skills Passport, a mobile application built on AWS that integrates training, certification, scholarships and employment services in one ecosystem. By leveraging scalable cloud and AI technologies, initiatives like these help modernize workforce development and strengthen the connection between skills acquisition and job opportunities.
The skills taxonomy vacuum
It is clear that people need to evolve their skillsets as technology evolves, but what remains unclear is the specific new skills required for each profession in the AI era. For instance, what specific AI literacy should a marketing graduate possess versus a finance major? How should a humanities student approach AI to remain competitive? These questions remain largely unanswered, creating uncertainty for graduates and educators alike. Industry-specific consortia are needed to develop clear taxonomies of AI skills required for entry-level roles.
Our recent research with Draup, a data intelligence company, identified in-demand entry-level technology roles and the AI skills necessary to secure them. This type of framework provides guidance to students, empowering them to pursue training that can translate into employability. This is just the beginning. The private sector, policymakers and educators will need to collaborate to identify AI skills taxonomies for different professions to help prepare individuals, especially early-career professionals, for an AI-driven labor market.
A collective responsibility
The rapid advancement of AI presents both unprecedented opportunity and risk. Used properly, AI can eliminate the most mundane aspects of entry-level work, allowing young professionals to engage in more meaningful, strategic contributions from Day One. But this future depends on collective action.
Employers must move beyond AI adoption to develop comprehensive workforce transformation strategies. Educational institutions must accelerate curriculum updates through industry partnerships. Students also need accessible pathways to develop AI literacy, regardless of their field of study.
No single entity can solve this challenge alone. The future of work — and the success of an entire generation of workers — depends on our collective ability to close the AI skills gap today. The stakes could not be higher. If we fail, we risk creating a two-tiered workforce: those with AI literacy who thrive and those without who struggle to gain economic footing. By acting now, we can build a future where AI enhances human potential across all segments of society — starting with those just entering the workforce.
Precious Lim is the country manager for the Philippines, at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s cloud computing platform that provides online services such as computing power, data storage, databases and artificial intelligence tools to businesses and developers.