Learn or leave the market

MEDIA LITERACY IS AN ISSUE FOR ALL EMPLOYEES
Technological illiteracy used to be a major problem at the turn of the 
century. However, nowadays, almost everyone knows how to use 
Microsoft Office, and millennials can even easily start a WordPress blog. 
That problem was solved, but another one emerged instead — media 
illiteracy. In the modern world, it is difficult to distinguish “confirmed” 
and “unconfirmed” information.
Employees of the future must be able to find reliable sources of infor-
mation and assess their authenticity and reliability. Considering that 
even the mass media blurs the line between information and enter-
tainment, this is becoming an increasingly difficult task. For example, 
employees of the future would need to be able to assess whether a blog 
is factual and objective, as well as to know how to verify information 
and spot clickbait. In other words, they should critically assess content 
and its source to decide whether it can be trusted or not. Sounds too 
simple? Indeed, it might seem so at first, however, due to the enormous 
growth of new media, there is more and more false and alternative 
news on the Internet.
This also involves network literacy, which is the ability to quickly 
analyze thousands of search results and select what is actually neces-
sary and useful for your current task. Network literacy also includes 
the ability to fish out information, even from something as mundane 
as social media.
Having learned all this, you will forever stay in high demand — you will 
become a specialist of the future. However, there is more! There are 
more special skills worth learning as well. Let’s discuss them in more 
detail.

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 Chapter 7. Skills of Businessmen and Leaders of the Future.
119
Other basic skills of the 21st century include: