According to the World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2025, 59 per cent of current employees will require upskilling or reskilling by 2030, while 70 per cent of employers expect to hire for entirely new skill sets over the next five years.
By the time many graduates enter the workforce, employers often spend months, sometimes longer, retraining them in new technologies, ways of working and even mindsets.
This disconnect raises an urgent question: how can education systems evolve to better reflect the realities of modern work?
Real-world needs
To meet emerging demands, schools can no longer operate in isolation. Learning must be more closely aligned with real-world skills, workplace expectations and societal needs.
That is why collaboration between education and industry is increasingly seen not as an optional enhancement, but as a core pillar in developing future-ready talent.
When done right, partnerships between schools and businesses can transform learning from abstract to applied and help create relevant pathways that reflect a real labour market and help students transition more smoothly into further study or employment.
Across many regions, schools are also experimenting with collaboration models that go well beyond occasional career talks.
Deeper collaborations
These include curriculum-linked industry projects, mentorship programmes, guest lectures, innovation challenges, internships, workplace exposure and digital learning platforms developed with industry input.
Crucially, the most effective partnerships are age-appropriate and embedded into the learning journey, rather than treated as standalone initiatives for a select few students.
For example, at GEMS Education, partnerships with businesses are intentionally designed to connect classroom learning with real-world relevance.
We collaborate with organisations across technology, artificial intelligence (AI), creativity, sustainability, healthcare and entrepreneurship to help students see how knowledge, skills and values translate into future careers.
In areas such as AI and innovation, our partnerships with organisations like Plug and Play give students exposure to emerging technologies through real business contexts, allowing them to explore entrepreneurship, ethical considerations and problem solving.
In the creative sphere, our work with platforms such as Canva supports the development of communication, design thinking and digital storytelling skills.
At the same time, strategic technology partnerships strengthen AI-enabled learning, digital fluency and secure digital infrastructure across schools, enhancing both teaching practice and organisational resilience.
What makes these partnerships so impactful is not just access to expertise - but relevance.
Industry partners bring lived experience that textbooks and platforms alone cannot replicate, helping students understand how skills are applied in dynamic, real-world environments.
Considerations schools must address
Collaboration, however, must be carefully designed. Safeguarding and student wellbeing are paramount, particularly when learning extends beyond the classroom.
Partnerships need to align clearly with curriculum objectives and educational outcomes, ensuring that experiences enhance learning rather than distract from it.
Equity of access is another critical consideration. Opportunities should be inclusive and embedded across cohorts, not limited to small groups of high-performing students.
Schools must also invest time in building sustained relationships with partners, rather than relying on one-off engagements that deliver limited long-term impact.
When these factors are thoughtfully addressed, collaboration becomes a powerful driver of relevance and motivation, while remaining firmly rooted in educational purpose.
Building stronger bridges for the future
In regions with strong national commitments to innovation and entrepreneurship, including the United Arab Emirates, the UK and beyond, schools are increasingly well-positioned to lead this evolution.
Forward-thinking institutions are working alongside businesses, governments and communities to create interconnected learning ecosystems that reflect how knowledge, skills and values intersect in the real world.
Preparing students for the future should be viewed as a shared responsibility between schools, families and industries.
Long-term collaboration enables education systems to remain agile, responsive and forward-looking while helping young people develop the confidence and capability to thrive amid constant change.
The benefits are mutual. While students enhance their preparedness for the job market and schools make learning more meaningful and outcome-driven, businesses can tap into the pipeline of fresh, skilled talent they have helped build.
If we are serious about building a future-ready generation, collaboration cannot remain at the margins of education. It must sit at its very heart, shaping not only what students learn today but how effectively they are prepared for the world they will inherit tomorrow.
Dino Varkey is group chief executive officer of GEMS Education
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