WorldSkills is at the tipping point

By Michelle Bussey, Communications and Marketing Director, WorldSkills

During the recent MarCom Working Group meeting in Paris, it suddenly hit me that WorldSkills is at the tipping point.

WorldSkills is on the edge of a new horizon, one that takes WorldSkills well beyond the Competition.

While the WorldSkills Competition will always be our flagship event, our focus is shifting towards becoming the international portal for skills excellence. This means reaching new audiences with targeted messaging about the skills agenda.

We will be working with MSL, a Public Relations firm, on how to strengthen our communications. In order to take on this challenge, we must first build a greater awareness of our brand and our mission. To do that, we will elevate our role models, bring information to the people, and connect groups around the world to advance skills excellence.

Becoming a skilled tradesperson or technologist is an honourable career. Role models in these areas including WorldSkills Champions, students, parents, educators, and economic policy makers should share that message by promoting careers in skills, trades and technologies as first choice career options.

By highlighting success stories and celebrating our WorldSkills Champions outside of the Competition, we can encourage youth to see skills in a new way. We can expand our reach by working with Members, partners, media, research partners, and event hosts on sharing information and demonstrating the potential future of skills excellence.

We will continue to connect and build strategic partnerships with other like-minded organizations to elevate the skills agenda worldwide. These partnerships can facilitate future skills development, paving the way for economic success by impacting youth unemployment and narrowing the labour market gap on skills misalliance.

WorldSkills is striving to be the beacon of skills excellence around the world. This is not going to be an easy task or one that will happen overnight, but together we can make it possible! Who’s with us?