Survey Finds Growing Skills Gap in National Workforce

The results of a new survey from Cornerstone OnDemand have named the skills gap as another serious issue for employees to consider entering into the already troubling 2013 economy. The report says that organizations unable to compensate for a general lack of talent will force them to suffer a loss of their competitive edge. The researched showed that more than 19 million workers are planning to switch jobs next year as the average recruiting and training costs hit 2.5 times an employee’s salary.

Three key concerns were identified that almost all companies face:

• An increasing absence of training and development as just 32 percent of adult workers received these productivity-enhancing benefits within the past six months.

• Lack of symmetry between expectations of managers and employees with only 25 percent of respondents reporting having established career goals with their manager.

• Lack of recognition from management with 66 percent of employees saying that they have not received useful feedback from their manager.

“The worldwide skills shortage is quickly becoming a crisis across companies of all sizes and industries,” Jason Corsello, vice president of corporate strategy and marketing for Cornerstone OnDemand, said. “Unfortunately there is no silver bullet to address the global skills shortage, but companies can take action to build programs today and invest more in ongoing training and continuous feedback for their employees.”