For years, we’ve been experiencing what’s been called a “Quiet Crisis” where we have many high skill jobs that cannot be filled, and yet many workers are underemployed or unemployed.

But, the Quiet Crisis isn’t quiet anymore. In many technical fields, employers have been feeling the pain from not having enough talent to fill these skill gaps. Our workforce has not kept up with the technical and human skills that are required of the workplace today. We have skill shortages in many fields.

When times are good, this causes pain to employers. When times are bad, such as during this pandemic, the need for these positions and the risks of not having them are escalated.

The COVID-19 crisis exposes the gaps in critical areas, such as cybersecurity, risk management, and cloud computing.

Why is cybersecurity a big problem during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Many organizations have moved to remote work for social distancing and self-isolation protocols and that requires organizations to move more electronic assets into remotely accessible formats. The need to safeguard data is more critical than ever. Remote workforces increase the risk of phishing scams and opportunistic hackers.

Why is risk management important to prepare for and respond to an event such as the COVID-19 pandemic?

We are facing the perfect storm of crisis – one that impacts health, financials, and supply chains on a scale and speed that very few imagined even a month ago. For organizations, there are many risks: financial, human, and reputational. In some cases, risks are truly unprecedented. Organizations need bench strength in risk management. Specifically, how to asses, manage, mitigate and finance for identifiable and unimaginable risk.

This crisis has identified major gaps in business continuity planning, for example. What are the best practices in creating, assessing and implementing these plans? How should organizations prepare for a disaster or emergency? These topics are foremost on our minds right now.

Why is having a cloud computing strategy so important for organizations to effectively manage in a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic?

Right now a lot of companies are being forced to adopt cloud technologies in a hurry to facilitate employees and customers who need to access their systems remotely. This is not ideal, and because we have a significant shortage of cloud architects and consultants, organizations do what is fast and easy. They may go forward with a single vendor and without a comprehensive strategy.

In dealing with the Coronavirus response, organizations are realizing that they also don’t have the communications capacity that they need in public relations and emergency communications, UX design, and Digital and Content Marketing.

In terms of UX design, companies are finding out if their emergency communications are accessible on their websites when people’s emotions are running high and they are in a hurry.

With Digital and Content Marketing, organizations are finding out if they have the capability to shift gears rapidly or are they continuing traditional approaches, and even sounding tone-deaf.

Right now, employers are becoming acutely aware of these gaps and the consequences. Employers are reaching out, urgently motivated to upskill their staff in these areas for both the short and longer-term.

Together we can fill these gaps.

York’s School of Continuing Studies is open, online, in-tune, and fast. Our programs are all available online and are the only accelerated programs in Canada to help rapidly re-skill workers. Connect with us, we’re here to support you.

Together we can meet the challenge.

Interested in developing specialized knowledge and continuing your education in a particular area? You can view our full list of Certificate Programs by clicking here.