As we move deeper into the 21st century, a concerning new phenomenon has emerged for employers and jobseekers alike: a growing chasm between what companies are looking for and the skills employees possess.
This ‘skills gap’ is a global crisis and now exists across almost all sectors, causing issues with recruitment and employment universally. But why is this, and - more importantly - what can be done about it?
It used to be enough for people hoping to enter the job market to pick a specialism and become an expert at it. However, today’s employees need to be a master of all trades, with a basic awareness of things like coding and data analytics as well as their more niche skill set.
This is leading to major problems, with a 2021 study from Manpower Group finding seven in ten employers are having difficulties hiring skilled workers in areas like IT, manufacturing and marketing.
McKinsey recently reported 43% of firms now have skills gaps and 87% expect to have them within three to five years, while Korn Ferry suggests more than 85 million jobs could go unfulfilled worldwide by 2030 because there aren’t enough skilled people to take them.
Why? Because technology and particularly the digital tools we use on a daily basis are evolving too quickly for education systems to keep pace, while new careers are springing up without precedent for teaching.
Furthermore, automation is accelerating to the extent that some jobs are at risk of becoming obsolete. If this issue isn’t addressed by firms head-on, the skills gap will only become wider.
So, what are these flexible strategies and how can skills be boosted by employers to help workplaces become more future-proof? Fortunately, they may not be as complicated as you might think.