Study reveals 90 percent of HR leaders believe that half of
their workforce will need to be reskilled in the next five
years
CHICAGO, Jan. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --
TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), a leading provider of specialized workforce
solutions, today announced the results of a comprehensive study
from leading recruitment process outsourcing provider PeopleScout,
a TrueBlue company, and Spotted Zebra, an award-winning HR tech
company. The study's findings demonstrate the surprising conclusion
that nine out of 10 HR leaders believe that up to 50 percent of
their workforce w ill need to be reskilled in the next five
years, with only seven percent reporting an active investment in
their reskilling programs.
Global Labor Trends & the Skills Countdown
The
pivotal research report, The Skills Crisis Countdown, offers
an unprecedented look into the evolving workforce skills landscape
and the growing disconnect between employee capabilities and
business needs that highlights the importance of adopting a
skills-based talent acquisition and management strategy. An
estimated 85 million jobs could go unfilled by 2030 that will cost
$8.5 trillion in lost revenue,
according to The World Economic Forum. The report indicates talent
shortages are the most widespread across industries including
education, hospitality, healthcare, technology, and manufacturing.
Approximately 80 percent of organizations reported their top
workforce challenge is recruiting skilled talent, followed by
retaining key personnel and upskilling current employees.
Employers are Ill-Prepared for the Future
Global
trends like automation, AI adoption, the green economy and
workforce demographic shifts are rapidly changing the skills needed
for jobs, making skills gaps and shortages more acute. Despite this
essential need for skills alignment, companies continue to
prioritize degrees and experience over skills when making hiring
decisions. This may be rooted in an overall unfamiliarity with
skills-based talent strategies, as one in two HR leaders admitted
to lacking an understanding of skills-based practices that would
support these workforce strategies.
"As a trusted talent advisor to a vast portfolio of clients
across almost all industries, we are seeing that the widening
skills gap is one of the top challenges facing organizations
today," said Rick Betori, President
of PeopleScout & EVP of TrueBlue. "This new research is a
critical step in understanding the current disconnect between the
demands of the future workforce and traditional hiring practices,
ultimately emphasizing why skills-based talent strategies are now
mission critical for an organization's long-term success."
Technology Accelerates the Skills
Conversation
Technology adoption is accelerating the need to
evolve skills, with 50 percent of HR leaders anticipating that job
roles at their organizations will transform due to shifts in
required skill sets. However, the report reveals another disparity
regarding perceived importance of technology skills. Despite
skyrocketing demand, both employers and employees undervalue skills
in technology, ranking it second to last when asked which skills
are most important for the future. Furthermore, 34 percent of
employers lack any plans for workforce adoption of automation and
AI.
"In just a few short months, GAI went from an abstract concept
to a tangible force with dramatic impacts worldwide. Skills
profiles across industries have already changed dramatically and
will continue to evolve rapidly," said Simon Wright, Global Head of Talent Advisory
Consulting of PeopleScout. "This research reveals that many HR
leaders are not ready for this transformation. Closing the widening
skills gap will require better alignment on the importance of tech
literacy."
Becoming a Skills-Based Organization
"Skills-based
talent strategies are essential, and the clock is ticking for
employers across all regions and industries," said Nick Shaw, Founder & Chief Customer Officer
of Spotted Zebra. "Without future-focused skills strategies for
both hiring and development, organizations will suffer lost revenue
and productivity when critical jobs are left unfilled."
Shaw and Wright will present the research findings in a webinar
on Thursday, February 1, 2024, at
11 am CST. Register for the webinar
here.
The PeopleScout report combined data from more than 2,000
employees surveyed across Asia-Pacific, Europe and North
America and insights from a statistically significant number
of senior Human Resources and Talent Acquisition leaders from
organizations around the world, across sectors and sizes.
Download the full report here for more survey findings and
actionable insights for employers.
About TrueBlue
TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI) is a leading provider of specialized workforce
solutions that help clients achieve business growth and improve
productivity. In 2022, TrueBlue served 84,000 clients and connected
approximately 611,000 people to work. Its PeopleReady segment
offers on-demand, industrial staffing; PeopleManagement offers
contingent, on-site industrial staffing and commercial driver
services; and PeopleScout offers recruitment process outsourcing
(RPO) and managed service provider (MSP) solutions to a wide
variety of industries. Learn more at trueblue.com.
About PeopleScout
PeopleScout, a TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI)
company, is a leading RPO provider managing talent solutions
that span the global economy, with end-to-end MSP and talent
advisory capabilities supporting total workforce needs. PeopleScout
boasts over 90% client retention managing the most complex programs
in the industry. The company's forward-looking talent professionals
provide clients with the edge in the people business by
consistently delivering now while anticipating what's next.
Affinix™, PeopleScout's proprietary talent acquisition platform,
empowers faster engagement with the best talent through an
AI-driven, consumer-like candidate experience and optimizes the
talent process through data and actionable insights. Leveraging the
power of data gleaned from engaging millions of candidates and
contingent associates every year, PeopleScout has served clients in
more than 70 countries with headquarters in Chicago, Sydney and London and global delivery centers in
Toronto, Montreal, Bristol, Krakow, Gurgaon and Bangalore. For more information, please visit
www.peoplescout.com.
About Spotted Zebra
Spotted Zebra empowers
organizations to make skills-based decisions throughout the entire
talent lifecycle—from hiring to reskilling to succession planning.
Its skills-based workforce management platform features three
applications—the award-winning Hiring application for skills-based
recruitment; the Mobility application for reskilling; and the
Development application for succession planning. Spotted Zebra was
founded in 2020 by repeat founder and internet entrepreneur
Ian Monk and qualified occupational
psychologist and former MD of SHL Nick Shaw. Find out more at
spottedzebra.co.uk.
Press Contact
Taylor Winchell
Senior Manager, External Communications
pr@trueblue.com
+1-253-680-8291
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SOURCE TrueBlue