Welcome to the first issue of Workforce Architecture, a digital magazine and research exchange for the changemakers and trailblazers driving innovation in the world of work.

In today’s world of work, where both disruption and opportunity are unprecedented, a hyper-focus is being placed on the skills of the future. Governments and educational institutions are racing to define, support, transition, and educate current and future workforces with the skills they’ll need to succeed. Some are making predictions and investments in specific technical skills, such as coding for artificial intelligence and machine learning. Others are doubling down on the human skills, such as empathy and creativity, that can’t be automated and set people apart from machines.

In the business world, however, companies focus less on education and more on jobs and job titles. Human resources departments and leadership teams are tasked with equipping current workforce capacity for the needs emerging in the next quarter, in the next year, and into the future. The base unit in this calculation is full-time equivalent (FTE) or head count. Here, predictions and investments are also being made, with the priority on ensuring the right people are in the right positions for the company to develop, produce, distribute, and support its products and services.

We want to elevate the conversation and threshold for change by bridging the gaps between these two approaches to workforce innovation. Skills and people are integral building blocks, but assembling the pieces we can currently see may not be sufficient to creating a future that 1) advances the prosperity and well-being of individuals, organizations, and communities, and 2) ensures economic competitiveness and sustainability (as set out in the Future Skills Council’s vision for Canada as a learning nation).

Workforce Architecture provides a frame for engaging in purposeful thinking and discussion. It presents an opportunity to consider, with bold intention, how we want workforce innovation to unfold and function across the labour market ecosystem and in our communities. Our task, changemakers and trailblazers, is grand. Achieving it will require integrating disciplines and mandates, from policy to HR, from education to technology. It will require lifelong learning and continuous improvement, moving us beyond a restrictive “working aged Canadians” focus. And it will set our sights on generations to come while digging into what’s no longer serving workforces across sectors and industries.

It’s time to gather our many tools, embrace our collective ambition, and commit to making the future we want a reality. Let’s get started—together.