AI Skills and Talent Gaps Widen as Innovation Accelerates: New Skillsoft Report
12 Dezember 2023 - 2:00PM
Business Wire
Skillsoft’s IT Skills and Salary Report
highlights the importance of skill building as businesses strive to
keep pace with rapid technological change driven by AI
Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL), a leading platform for transformative
learning experiences, today released its 2023 IT Skills and Salary
Report. Based on insights from more than 5,700 global IT
professionals, including leaders and staff members, the report
examines the state of the IT industry, underscoring the pressing
need for workforce upskilling and reskilling given the rapid
advancement of AI and machine learning (ML) technologies.
Key findings include:
- AI and ML are the biggest areas of focus for IT leaders, though
43% rate their teams’ AI and ML skill sets as low.
- One-in-three IT leaders are struggling most with finding
qualified AI and ML talent.
- The top driver of skills gaps is the rate of technology change
outpacing training programs.
- Last year, 45% of IT professionals said management did not see
a tangible benefit from training. Just 15% now say the same, as
skill building becomes a business imperative.
- 97% of IT leaders say certified staff adds value to their
organization.
- IT professionals’ top reason for skill building is to prepare
their organization for new technology, especially as generative AI
(GenAI) becomes more advanced.
“With AI accelerating disruption at an unprecedented pace, the
need for workforce training has never been more obvious and
consequential,” said Orla Daly, Chief Information Officer,
Skillsoft. “Organizations are at a critical point where they need
to be deliberate and proactive about building skills and
capabilities – especially related to AI – or risk falling behind in
the coming year. Interactive training experiences where
professionals learn by doing will unlock rich possibilities,
creating business value while increasing team member engagement and
morale.”
Increasing scope and efficacy of training. Skill
development is a critical piece of the puzzle for building a
competitive organization, though more work is needed to optimize
training among technology teams. Only 37% of IT professionals
report receiving training “most of the time” when their employers
invest in new technology. Additionally, compared to last year, 40%
more IT leaders say their organization is not investing enough in
professional development and 80% more say their current training
programs are not effective at developing the skills they need.
This presents a missed opportunity for strengthening business
outcomes and talent retention. IT professionals who receive
training report improved work quality (62%), a greater sense of
engagement (47%), and faster job performance (45%). Meanwhile, 82%
of IT professionals say training is extremely or very important to
their career and a lack of development was the top factor that
drove respondents to change employers in the last year.
Taking a “whole-person” approach to development. “Hard”
or technical skills have traditionally been prioritized in the IT
industry, while “soft” or power skills can fall by the wayside
despite being essential for adapting and augmenting transformative
technologies, especially GenAI. IT professionals rank team
communication (40%), interpersonal communication (21%), and
emotional intelligence (13%) as the three most important skills for
IT leaders to have. However, just 6% of IT leaders said leadership
skills will be a key area of investment moving forward, and only 7%
said the same about power skills.
With 72% of IT leaders ranking their existing teams’ leadership
skills as medium to low, there is a significant gap between
training needs and priorities in this critical area. This presents
a major opportunity for businesses to build well-rounded IT
professionals by providing leadership training as a differentiator
to drive greater innovation, growth, and efficiencies.
Building next-generation skilling programs. Skills gaps,
talent shortages, and technology transformation are challenges
impacting IT departments. However, they are all obstacles that can
be remediated with a well-orchestrated training program that blends
multiple modalities and content types. According to IT
professionals, the most important features of a training program
include quality of content (55%), opportunities for hands-on
practice (50%), and multiple learning methods (38%). Online,
on-demand training is the most popular learning modality among IT
professionals this year (59%), followed by online live training
(46%) and impromptu training at work (31%). Additionally, IT
professionals leverage a variety of learning resources ranging from
employer training subscriptions (35%) and certification prep guides
(25%) to online communities (24%).
For additional insights and takeaways for organizations to
optimize training within their technology teams, download the 2023
IT Skills and Salary Report.
Report Methodology: Skillsoft's 2023 IT Skills and Salary
Survey was conducted online from May to September 2023 using the
Qualtrics XM Platform. Skillsoft and the sponsors of this report
distributed survey invitations to professionals around the world.
The report was sponsored by Google Cloud, Nutanix, ISACA, Microsoft
and CompTIA. The survey was made available in blogs, newsletters,
social media and Skillsoft website. After cleaning the data, the
survey yielded 5,711 complete responses from IT decision-makers and
staff worldwide. The survey was tabulated using the Qualtrics XM
Platform.
About Skillsoft Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL) delivers
transformative learning experiences that propel organizations and
people to grow together. The Company partners with enterprise
organizations and serves a global community of learners to prepare
today’s employees for tomorrow’s economy. With Skillsoft, customers
gain access to blended, multimodal learning experiences that do
more than build skills, they grow a more capable, adaptive, and
engaged workforce. Through a portfolio of best-in-class content, a
platform that is personalized and connected to customer needs,
world-class tech and a broad ecosystem of partners, Skillsoft
drives continuous growth and performance for employees and their
organizations by overcoming critical skill gaps and unlocking human
potential.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231212114131/en/
Investors Chad Lyne chad.lyne@skillsoft.com
Media Andrea Hackett andrea.hackett@skillsoft.com
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