Since the corona crisis, more than ever, workers have feared that their qualifications will no longer be sufficient, shows a study.
The pandemic has shown many employees around the world how fast working life has become and how new skills are required. This leads to increased job insecurity for them, as an international study by the learning platform Degreed shows: The report “The State of Skills 2021” shows that now more than a third of those surveyed worldwide are convinced that they are not sufficiently aware of the have the skills required for their work.
The problem: The Covid 19 pandemic has drastically increased the need for new skills and competencies, but at the same time companies have cut their investments in training and personnel development.
In five years, the employees’ previous knowledge may no longer be sufficient for the new requirements. Almost half of the respondents fear this worldwide, in Germany even 56 percent of the respondents believe it.
But the need for further training is great in this country: a good two thirds of employees want to be well prepared – also in order to advance their professional careers.
The respondents see a need primarily in the following areas:
- Leadership skills,
- advanced communication and negotiation skills,
- advanced computer and programming skills.
In terms of industries, employees in IT, finance, and technical areas see themselves most at risk of having insufficient previous skills. Regardless of the industries, it is again IT employees in the various departments who consider further training to be necessary. But many employees from marketing and human resources would also like to gain further qualifications.
Risks for employees and companies
This development is having a significant impact on the workforce and businesses trying to cope with the current crisis. When there is little confidence in one’s own abilities, 55 percent of employees worldwide find their work to be more stressful. Employees in Germany feel a little less under pressure: the rate here is 50 percent.
In addition, four out of ten employees state that they take longer to complete tasks. In almost a quarter, the quality of the work suffers.
This scenario also has an impact on employee retention. Almost half of the respondents state that they will likely leave their employer if the employer does not invest in the skills development of its employees.
The picture is somewhat different in Germany: a third of those surveyed believe that their employers are more inclined to lay off employees than to retrain them or to transfer them to other departments.
Learning in the home office
The past few months have been particularly difficult for German companies, which for a long time have relied on face-to-face offers in the area of employee training and personnel development.
“The corona pandemic has not only confronted many companies with the issue of home office, but also with the question of how employees can be qualified and trained when they are not on site at the company,” says Dan Tesnjak, Vice President EMEA at Degreed.
It quickly became clear that a simple video conference is often not enough. “That is why we are currently seeing an enormous boost in interest in digital learning – and that in companies of almost all sizes and from a wide variety of industries.”
“State of Skills 2021”
The “State of Skills 2021” report examined the global effects of the corona pandemic on the qualification of workers. As part of the study, over 5,000 employees in eight countries were asked about their current professional situation. The report shows the countries, industries, and positions that are hardest hit by the change. The results show the need for action and optimization measures for employees and companies.
About Degreed:
The Degreed learning platform, founded in 2012, is now used by every third Fortune 50 company. Degreed integrates and curates all of the resources people use to learn – including learning management systems, as well as millions of courses, videos, articles, books, and podcasts.
