Research by the Association for Talent Development finds that 83% of businesses are reporting a skills gap in their organizations due to the pandemic, increased resignations, changing technology and an aging workforce.
ATD’s report Bridging the Skills Gap: Workforce Development in Changing Times, sponsored by GP Strategies notes that when an organization has a large skills gap in its workforce, it risks not meeting customer expectations and demands.
Among organizations surveyed, the largest skills gaps were reported in critical-thinking and problem-solving skills (65% percent), managerial skills (55%), and communication and interpersonal skills (53%).
Talent development professionals surveyed said they expect to continue to face gaps in the future in critical-thinking and problem-solving skills (56%), leadership skills (53%), and creativity and innovation skills (50%), the report said.
Other key takeaways include:
- Six in 10 participants said the skills of the current workforce do not match changes in the company’s strategy, goals, markets, or business models. Other key causes include insufficient bench strength in the company’s leadership ranks (54%) and a lack of skilled talent in one or more of the company’s lines of business (44%).
- Most participants say their organization is addressing the skills gaps they face by providing more training internally in technology-aided settings such as e-learning or virtual classrooms (60%), and more in-person training (21%).
- A majority of respondents (57%) said that they were addressing skills gaps by examining what skills the organization needs to be successful now, and in the future, while 55% said that they were assessing current gaps and creating a plan to address the most critical areas. This is a positive trend in comparison to 2018, when only 49% were examining skills needs.
