This week, nearly 1,400 competitors from 70 countries and regions around the world will come together to compete across 59 skills at the WorldSkills final in Lyon, France and Autodesk technology will feature significantly.
The competition welcomes hundreds of thousands of attendees, showcasing the skills and talent of young professionals across six industrial sectors.
Autodesk has been a global partner of WorldSkills for 18 years, demonstrating its commitment to support tomorrow’s leaders to design and make a better world. Autodesk’s technology spans architecture, engineering, construction, product design, manufacturing, media and entertainment. In addition to its global partnership, Autodesk’s technology will be used across 23 different skills at WorldSkills Lyon, including additive manufacturing, mechanical engineering, and digital construction.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that one billion people will need to be trained by 2030 with the skills of the future. With the current multi-generational workforce, technology disruption and the journey towards a more sustainable future, bringing skilled talent into the industry has never been more important. Yet the skills gap continues to grow and the need for collaboration between education, industry and government has never been more important.
“Autodesk aims to encourage and support creativity and innovation that will shape tomorrow’s world. WorldSkills highlights the determination and commitment of these young people, shining a light on how different skills are evolving and shaping excellence in every country. Our commitment to engaging with the education industry continues and we are proud to contribute to the emergence of the talents, trades and innovations shown through these competitions.” Nicolas Mangon, VP, AEC Industry Strategy at Autodesk
From the UK, more than 30 young skilled professionals have been selected to compete at WorldSkills Lyon across 27 disciplines. This includes Isabelle Barron and Oscar McNaughton, who have both experienced the transformative impact that competing has had on their education journeys and career possibilities.
“With Autodesk as a WorldSkills sponsor and using Autodesk software throughout is a really great way to get that hands-on experience of what’s widely used in industry and being ready for it.” Isabelle Barron, digital construction competitor at WorldSkills Lyon 2024
“I’ve always used Autodesk Fusion, and I’m a big admirer of it for my skill. It’s perfect for the work that I do every day with product design and rapid prototyping. For education, it’s great to see it being used on a world stage at WorldSkills.” — Oscar McNaughton, additive manufacturing competitor at WorldSkills Lyon 2024
Industry demand for digital skills and AI
The Design and Make industries — encompassing architecture, engineering and construction, design and manufacturing, and media and entertainment – employ nearly 300 million people worldwide* and will represent $30tn in value globally by 2027**.
Earlier this year, Autodesk released its second annual State of Design & Make Report, surveying 5,400 industry, leaders, futurists and experts around the world. The top three digital skills companies are looking for include: the ability to work with AI, digital design, and software development/programming. Key findings also included:
- 41% say the ability to implement/work with AI is the top technical skill companies will be prioritising for hiring decisions over the next three years
- 77% of companies consider upskilling and training important, yet only 38% have the necessary skills and resources to design internal training programmes
- 43% of industry professionals say that access to skilled talent is a barrier to their companies’ growth
The future generation of design and make
Autodesk’s continued partnership with WorldSkills underscores its commitment to fostering innovation, promoting skills development, as well as encouraging and promoting greater equity and access to the world of work, facilitating the acquisition of the skills that will be in highest demand in the future.
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