Employees don’t feel confident about their skill levels, and they don’t think employers are doing enough to provide them with the competencies they need to be successful.
According to a new report, the skills gap is still a problem for employers and workers alike. About half (53%) of 1,000 employees surveyed say that they aren’t sure if they have the skills to withstand a future layoff. At the same time, a similar number of people don’t believe that their current employer provides the right development opportunities to help them be successful.
In “Building an Adaptive Workforce: The Demand for Transparency and Skills Development,” the authors found that:
- 83% of workers believe it is essential to improve professional skills.
- 60% of boomers feel insecure with their current skill sets.
- 53% of millennials say their employers help them identify the skills they need, while only 37% of boomers agree.
- Most employees feel there is a lack of transparency from their employer regarding job-critical skills and internal mobility, with 73% of boomers saying their employer doesn’t do enough to identify skills they need to succeed.
- 76% of survey respondents say that learning new skills makes them feel more confident at work and that this results in improved performance.
- 50% of respondents see the ability to complete tasks beyond their immediate job assignment as key for promotion.
- Older workers in particular (60%) believe skills diversification is more important than do younger workers (39%).
- Female respondents say they value a diversified skill set (59%) more than a good relationship with their manager (26%).
This information seems to support the results of another recent study that found the skills gap has jumped from 52% in 2018 to 64% in 2019. This survey also found that 44% of employees say that it is more difficult than ever to fill the skills gap, and 42% believe this problem makes their company less efficient.
Significantly, both studies indicate that employees are ready and eager to learn; and they value company development/education efforts as a means to avoid job loss, increase their confidence, and enable promotions and career mobility.
