The upskilling challenge

Employers are facing a dilemma: Their workforce often needs to learn new skills, upgrade existing capabilities or complete compliance training. Yet the new reality of remote and hybrid work has made traditional, in-person upskilling more challenging. Online and app-based courses can fill in some gaps — but not all. So how can employers deal with this challenge?

The virtual reality advantage

Virtual reality (VR) is well known for teaching hard skills and offering realistic simulations, such as for airplane pilots or equipment maintenance. With the rise of the metaverse, VR (which is one of several ways to enter the metaverse) is also growing more common. The PwC 2022 US Metaverse Survey found that 51% of companies are either in the process of integrating VR into strategy, or have already built VR into at least one dedicated line of business. Thirty-four percent say that one of the biggest metaverse benefits they currently enjoy or foresee is “a more effective way to develop and train our people.”