The Skills Gap: A Challenge for the Future of Companies

The skills gap is a concept that is older than one might think. When computers and information technology first arrived, the regular workforce at that time did not have the necessary skills to handle this new technology. This was a significant skills gap that companies had to overcome.

Today, with digital transformation and the growing demand for specialized skills, a significant disparity has emerged between the competencies that companies require and those possessed by available workers. This phenomenon represents a major challenge for organizations, which must find innovative ways to attract, develop, and retain the professionals they need to remain competitive.

At Talent2Win, we are a recruitment firm with extensive experience in talent management, so we are very familiar with this topic. In the following lines, you will learn what the skills gap is, the steps to identify it, and how to solve it.

What is the Skills Gap?

The skills gap occurs when the skills of workers are insufficient to meet the needs of the company. When the available skills and the required skills are at different levels, we can say that there is a skills gap within the organization.

This disparity can occur in various areas of the company and with different skill sets. However, in the context of the digital transformation that many companies are currently undergoing, a digital or technological skills gap is very common. Let’s review some common causes of the skills gap in organizations.

Causes of the Skills Gap

The Inevitable Digital Transformation

It is estimated that modern companies invest between 5% and 15% of their revenue in adapting to digital transformation, and these figures are constantly increasing. Now, implementing new technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, and automation requires new skills that are not always present in the current workforce.

The Ease of Internationalization

The end of borders thanks to new technologies creates a business landscape where expanding to other countries is easier than ever. However, globalization has not managed to eliminate an old barrier that often complicates relationships between companies from different countries: language. Therefore, the demand for workers with multilingual skills and a global vision has intensified.

Consequences of the Skills Gap

• The skills gap can have negative consequences for companies, such as:
• Difficulty finding and retaining qualified workers to fill vacancies, which can delay growth and innovation.
• Decreased productivity of workers and the quality of products and services.
• The need to train workers to acquire new skills also generates additional costs.

How to Identify the Skills Gap

1. What are your goals as a company?

To assess whether a skills gap actually exists, it is necessary to identify the company’s objectives in the near future. What does the organization want to achieve in the medium and long term? Perhaps it needs to expand into another market, internationalize, strengthen its digital presence, etc.

2. Do you have the necessary skills?

Based on this analysis of objectives, it is necessary to ask the following questions:

• What skills will be needed to achieve those objectives?
• Do the current workers have the necessary skills to achieve those objectives?
• What budget can you allocate to the search, acquisition, or training of these missing skills?
• Of all the missing skills, which are the priorities?

Examples of the Skills Gap in Well-Known Companies

Many well-known companies worldwide have faced the skills gap. For example, in the technology sector, giants like Google and Amazon have invested heavily in training and development programs to acquire the necessary skills in areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

In the manufacturing sector, companies like Siemens have implemented initiatives such as reskilling and upskilling to retrain their workers and acquire the skills needed for intelligent manufacturing.

How to Close the Skills Gap

Invest in continuous training and development

As we have seen in the three examples provided previously, training plays a crucial role in overcoming the skills gap. After all, the personnel within the company already know the culture, work philosophy, and internal structures of the company, so developing a new set of skills in these workers can be a great solution.

Attracting the right talent

In other cases, the current talent within the company is not enough. When the training strategy does not yield results or there is no time to apply it, the next option is to recruit new personnel with the desired skills.

Here, it is necessary to employ a recruitment approach that can truly identify and evaluate individuals with the required skills. For example, if tech talent is needed, the recruitment team must be familiar with tech profiles, knowledge, and skills in order to assess them and identify the right candidates. This is why, when it comes to specialized skills gaps, many organizations opt for recruitment outsourcing.

Conclusion

The skills gap is a complex challenge that requires a comprehensive solution. Companies must invest in the development of their workers and, in other cases, acquire the necessary talent to compete in an increasingly dynamic labor market. By closing the skills gap, companies can improve their competitiveness, innovate, and grow in the long term.

The skills gap is not only a problem for companies but also for society as a whole. By investing in the education and training of workers, we can ensure that people have the necessary skills to fully participate in the 21st-century economy.

Talent2Win offers borderless talent consulting solutions tailored to your company. If you would like to learn about our Executive Search, Talent Acquisition or RPO services, please do not hesitate to contact us.