APEC CEO Summit: “We Must Engage in Developing Our Talent and Elevating It to the Necessary Level”

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Titled Strategies for the Next Generation Workforce, the session analyzed trends and challenges in the labor market. The discussion was moderated by Juan Aurelio Arévalo Miro Quesada, Editorial Director of El Comercio, and featured panelists Rosario Navarro, President of SOFOFA (Chile); Shinta Kamdani, CEO of Sintesa Group; Luis Felipe Castellanos, CEO of Intercorp Financial Services; and Jason Chen, CEO of Acer.

The leaders addressed various pressing demands, including the urgent need to prepare workers to adapt to rapidly advancing technology—a trend that has accelerated significantly over the past two years. However, in some countries, the workforce has struggled to keep pace with this rapid evolution.

“The workforce cannot adapt quickly enough to technology. Talent and education are crucial... The government cannot do it alone; the private sector must step in,” one panelist emphasized.

This focus on preparing new generations is vital, especially as technology “levels the playing field,” allowing younger workers to compete with more experienced counterparts based on knowledge rather than tenure, noted Jason Chen. “Younger generations learn faster,” he acknowledged.

According to Luis Felipe Castellanos, education should not be limited to young people—it must also involve reskilling the existing workforce, which is a responsibility that falls to companies. Organizations need to “catch up and scale up because employees will fall behind, and society will be impacted,” he remarked.

This approach is particularly important given the intense competition for human talent. Recruiting skilled workers has become increasingly difficult, posing another challenge for companies: virtual work. Castellanos highlighted that virtual work is highly valued by younger generations and opens the door to sourcing talent globally.

Rosario Navarro echoed this sentiment, stating, “We must engage in improving our talent and elevating it to the necessary level.” She urged companies to become involved in shaping national education curricula.

While the advantages of technology are welcomed, Shinta Kamdani cautioned that technology can also have drawbacks. In her home country of Indonesia, automation has led to job losses. Moreover, “It can increase productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness, but we must also recognize that it comes at a cost,” she said.

Jason Chen added another concern: information security. “To introduce more technology, we need to be mindful of exposure and cybersecurity. This will be a challenge and a significant concern,” he warned.

Labor regulations in some countries also pose unresolved challenges, particularly for governments. “The government has a major issue in developing a model that facilitates life for companies and workers alike,” Kamdani noted.

In Peru, longstanding problems exacerbate the situation. “We have outdated regulations, limited adoption of labor policies, a large informal economy, and the impact of inadequate social protection for many workers,” Castellanos concluded.