Dive Brief:
- The skills shortage is employers' top talent strategy concern, the Human Capital Institute says in its 2018 Talent Pulse Priorities report. The report includes insight from 500 leaders in talent management and acquisition.
- Specifically, 43% of respondents reported that their main concern is skills shortages in their industry. 75% of L&D providers said that realistic training environments are very important to the learning/upskilling process, but only half have that capacity in their organization.
- Employers' second largest concern, at 38%, is the retirement of baby boomers from the workforce, HCI found.
Dive Insight:
The challenge to maintain a stream of qualified applicants is changing the way employers tap talent pools — and create them. The shift away from credentialed hiring to a skills-based recruitment model is being seen at even large employers, including IBM. Employers are working with government agencies, community groups and even high schools to prep students for future careers and upskill current employees for today’s openings.
To address the risk of brain drain due to retirees leaving the workforce, employers are looking for creative solutions to solve the talent gap with millennials, from training to rebranding entire industries.
Many learning leaders are looking at the vast array of materials at their fingertips, from generalized MOOCs to customized training in VR to upskill employees. The key for trainers is to curate the material to meet their needs, while offering a wide range of options in materials and formats for learners to access. The instructional coordinator of yesterday has morphed into a learning experience designer to bridge the skills gap across all industries.
