A new report by LinkedIn called the Future of Skills 2019 Report reveals a critical gap between the learning and development opportunities employees want and what businesses are providing. Senior Director, Learning Solutions for LinkedIn in Asia Pacific, Jason Laufer believes if businesses fail to address this gap, they will fall behind.
Employees need to do more to upskill their workforce with one in three Australian workers claiming to have quit their job due to insufficient access to L&D opportunities. It shows Australian businesses need to do much more in order to retain the best talent.
Employers are not confident employees have the skills to keep pace with industry changes
As the rise of automation and technology continues to transform the skills required of the Australian workforce, the pressure for individuals and organisations to adapt has never been greater. According to the LinkedIn’s Future of Skills 2019 Report, over half of Australian employees (53%) agree the skills they need to succeed are changing rapidly, with almost two in five (39%) actively feeling daunted by the pace of change in their industries. However, Australian employer respondents believe that less than half of their employees (49%) currently have the right skills to keep pace with the changes in their industry.
Top 10 rising skills that are growing exponentially
LinkedIn identified the top rising skills by looking at the skills listed by its members with the highest month-on-month growth over five years. There is three times more demand for professionals with rising skills as compared to other professionals. In Australia, the top three rising skills in the workforce are Continuous Integration, Workflow Automation, and Social Media Marketing.
Employees are motivated to upskill however employers have a challenge engaging them
The report reveals that almost half (46%) of Australians workers are motivated to upskill to prepare for the future of work. This ranks higher than the need to upskill to fast track career progression (41%) or even to mitigate a fear of redundancy (29%). However, the report, which also surveyed Australian employer’s on upskilling transformation challenges, reveals the most significant skills challenge employers face is engaging employees (39%) to learn in the first place.
There is also a disconnect in the type of content offered with employers delivering on skills such as Critical Thinking and Industry Specific Knowledge whilst employees feel they aren’t receiving relevant training in growing soft skills such as Adaptability & Flexibility. Half of Australian employees (52%) think soft skills will be more important for their career.
“We can see a misalignment between what motivates many employees to learn compared to what most employers are pursuing. Australian employees are more typically driven to learn for personal and professional fulfillment, however employers are focusing on career progression,” said Jason Laufer, Senior Director, Learning Solutions for LinkedIn in Asia Pacific.
“Our research shows that offering L&D opportunities can provide significant return on investment by increasing productivity and staff retention. Over a quarter of Australian employer’s (27%) also said offering L&D increases overall revenue. With such clear business benefits, it is important that employers adopt a more holistic, ‘always-on’ approach to learning and development.”
Time and accessibility are barriers to learning
While three in five Australian employees (60%) identify time as the most significant barrier to undertaking L&D activities at work, the report reveals employees would ideally like to undertake an online learning course at least once a fortnight. Furthermore, one in three employees (29%) said accessibility to learning was also a barrier which provides an opportunity for employers to deliver learning via mobile devices to employees.
“Shorter, targeted and achievable courses that equip participants with skills they can use in their work are typically the most valuable for employees. Our research found that the vast majority of Australians (85%) said they prefer online learning because it is more convenient than offline learning methods.”
For more information, download the full 2019 Future of Skills Report here.
LinkedIn is offering a free one month trial to LinkedIn Learning Courses and you can access at www.linkedin.com/learning