Without the skills to stay useful as innovations arrive, workers suffer, and if enough of them fall behind, society starts to fall apart.

随着创新的到来，如果没有可以傍身的技能，工人就会遭受困难。如果他们中落后于创新的人足够多，社会就会开始崩溃。

Automation in factories and offices once called forth a surge in college graduates and today robotics and artificial intelligence call for another education revolution. This time, people must also be able to acquire new skills throughout their careers.

曾经，工厂和办公室的自动化引起了大学毕业生的激增。今天，机器人和人工智能呼唤着另一场教育革命。然而这一次，人们还必须学会，边工作边学习新的技能。

Unfortunately, the lifelong learning that exists today mainly benefits high achievers—and is therefore more likely to exacerbate inequality than diminish it. If 21st-century economies are not to create a massive underclass, policymakers urgently need to work out how to help all their citizens learn while they earn.

不幸的是，当今存在的终身学习主要使成就卓越的人受益，——因此，它更倾向于加剧不平等而非消除它。如果在21世纪，各经济体不打算制造出庞大的下层阶级，那么，决策者们就需要刻不容缓地研究对策，帮助国民们边挣钱边学习。

The classic model of education is breaking down. One reason is the need for new and constantly updated skills. Manufacturing increasingly calls for brain work rather than manual work.

经典的教育模式正在崩溃。 原因之一是对新的且不断更新的技能的需求。 制造业越来越需要脑力劳动而不是体力劳动。

Pushing people into ever-higher levels of formal education at the start of their lives is not the way to cope. Just 16% of Americans think that a four-year college degree prepares students very well for a good job. Although vocational education promises that vital first hire, those with specialized training tend to withdraw from the labor force earlier than those with general education—perhaps because they are less adaptable.

要求人们在年轻时接受更高水平的正规教育，并不是解决问题的方法。仅有16%的美国人认为，通过四年本科学习就可以将学生培养得足以找到好工作。尽管职业教育可以确保至关重要的第一份工作，但接受技能培训的人往往比受过大学综合教育的人更早地退出劳动力市场，这也许是因为他们适应性较差。

Self-employment is spreading, leaving more people to take responsibility for their own skills. Taking time out later in life to pursue a formal qualification is an option, but it costs money and most colleges are geared towards youngsters.

gear sth. towards sth.: 使...适合于

自主创业的人越来越多，使得更多的人对自己的技能负责。人到中年之后再花时间去接受正规学位教育也是一种选择。但是，这样做成本很高，而且大部分高校都是针对年轻人的。

Many providers are building businesses on the promise of boosting and rebooting careers. Massive open online courses have veered away from lectures on Plato or black holes in favor of courses that make their students more employable. By offering degrees online, universities are making it easier for professionals to burnish their skills.

一些机构开展业务以发展和重振职业生涯。大量的公开在线课程已经从谈论柏拉图或黑洞的讲座转向那些使学生更具就业能力的课程。通过在线提供学位，大学帮助各种专业人士更容易提高技能。

Online learning requires some IT literacy, yet one in four adults in the OECD has no or limited experience of computers.

在线学习需要一定的IT知识，但是在经合组织成员国中中有四分之一的成年人没有使用计算机的经验或经验有限。