HR leaders worry about skills gap as boomers exit, Gen Z enters
The survey found that 74% of workers would consider leaving for a new role if they were offered additional education or career opportunities.
Nearly all leaders recently surveyed by public benefit company Guild said attracting talent is a top priority this year, and nearly 70% described recruiting talent as an urgent concern. Complicating this picture is the increasing flow of baby boomers out of the workforce and the loss of institutional knowledge that is exiting with them.
Replacing those tenured employees with employees from the ranks of Gen Z introduces new challenges, as younger workers have different motivations and expectations, said the report. Those potential employees are motivated less by monetary compensation and more by opportunities for continuous learning, good work-life balance and career satisfaction, the survey found.
Leaders also expressed concern about losing high-performing employees who have become unengaged and coping with the impact of remote work on company culture.
Skills gap
Finding and keeping top talent will be crucial for building a workforce with the right skills to meet business demands. More than half of respondents to the survey said skills readiness is an urgent concern for 2024. Nearly three-quarters of respondents are particularly concerned about having a workforce that is prepared to leverage artificial intelligence.
This need for skilled workers has resulted in some corporate leaders asking HR departments to focus on knowledge-based hiring criteria rather than university-based learning criteria, according to the study. Upskilling and reskilling existing members of the workforce is also important, the survey found.
Guild said one opportunity to meet the needs of the changing employee pool while also meeting the skills needs of companies is to articulate career pathways that show employees exactly what steps they need to take to get into high-demand positions. These steps can include project-based learning and near-term certifications.
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Burnout remains a major risk in the workforce, said Guild, which noted research that shows a lack of access to learning and growth are some of the main reasons people leave their jobs. Recent Guild research found that 74% of workers would consider leaving for a new role if they were offered additional education or career opportunities. Continuous learning programs are a key piece of a holistic approach to addressing the entire lifecycle of employees, the firm said.
The survey included 266 business leaders at companies with more than 1,000 employees to find out their thoughts on how talent strategy impacts business goals.