Bridging the Skills Gap
The digital skills gap is an issue currently affecting organizations around the world. Even the most technologically advanced companies are coming face-to-face with the reality that the work is evolving faster than their workforce. With a lack of digital skills within their own people, and a very limited number of trained graduates emerging into the candidate pool, what are these companies to do?
Time to Train

A short-term solution to discovering a lack of skills within your workforce would be to hire specialists to fill those roles. Of course, this comes at a premium price. A long-term, more practical solution is to reskill the employees you already have. Offering in-house re-training will be critical to ensuring that your company isn’t left behind as the digital era surges forwards.
Surprisingly, this isn’t an unpopular opinion. The majority of hiring managers agree that digital skill development programs are vital to keeping their organizations afloat amid industry disruptions and innovations, but many have been slow off the mark. Whether a lack of budget, time, or employee motivation, many companies have found excuses rather than results. However, in order to stay relevant, these companies will need to act now, or else be surpassed by others that did.
Take Advantage of Tech
There are already several online learning platforms to help companies foster an environment of lifelong learning. Organizations should take advantage of them and develop their own program guides to enable their employees to succeed in their field. Platforms such as Coursera, Udacity, and Udemy offer courses in data science, machine learning, and AI, and can help businesses succeed in transforming their workforces. According to the World Economic Forum, a company’s future success may rely on their ability to “harness new and emerging technologies to reach higher levels of efficiency,” which won’t be possible without reskilled employees.
Be the Right Employer
Today more than ever, employees are dedicated to working for companies that they can be proud of. Organizations that value their employees, offer friendly, respectful environments, and boast strong values are the ones that retain their workers. Attracting talent or creating talent within your workforce from the ground up is only valuable if you can keep them around. Employees that have the necessary skills to fill the digital gap will have their pick of jobs, so an inflated salary and benefits package may not be incentive enough. Research shows that companies that lead with their morals, foster workplaces that value diversity and inclusivity, and create a positive social impact are the ones that will win the war for talent.
Next Steps
It should be mentioned that there are no hard and fast rules for which companies will thrive, which ones will survive, and which ones will be left by the wayside. In fact there is no one-size -fits-all answer for how to successfully future-proof your workforce. However, by upskilling, taking advantage of lifelong learning opportunities, and focusing on employee retention, organizations will be well poised as we enter the 4th industrial revolution.
This article was published in the
September 2020
edition of The TMC Advisor
- ISSN 2369-663X Volume:7 Issue:6
©2020 TMC Consulting