TheGIobaI

StateofSkiIIs

TableofContents

Introduction3

KeyFindings4

BracingforaSkillsShortage:

FromAwarenesstoAction5

Today’sSkillsvs.Tomorrow’sNeeds8

Skills-BasedStrategiesTakeHold11

TheGoal:AcceleratetheTransition

toaSkills-BasedFuture15

AIasaCatalystforChange18

KeySkills-BasedStrategies20

StartYourSkills-BasedJourney23

TheStateofSkillsinEMEA24

ResearchMethodology25

2TheGlobalStateofSkills

3TheGlobalStateofSkills

Introduction

AsAIagentsentertheworkplaceandshiftingdemographicscompoundexistingtalentshortages,organisationshaverealisedthattraditionalworkforcemanagementstrategiesarenotkeepingup.

Ourlatestresearchrevealsthatoverhalfofbusinessleaders(51%)areconcernedaboutafuturetalentshortage,drivenbythefactthatonly32%stronglybelievetheskillswithintheirorganisationtodayarethesamethattheywillneedforfuturesuccess.

Inresponsetoanuncertainfuture,leadersareembracingskills-basedstrategiesasawaytomaketheirorganisationsmoreadaptableandresilient.Overhalfoforganisationsworldwide(55%)havealreadystartedtheshifttoaskills-basedapproach,withanadditional23%planningtodosowithinthenext12months.

Transitioningtoaskills-basedapproachisnotwithoutitschallenges,whichincluderesistancetochange,thehighdegreeofupskillingandreskillingneeded,andthechallengeofconnectingskillsdataacrossdifferent

systems–buttherapidriseofAIisplayingakeyroleinacceleratingthisshift.

Organisingworkaroundskillsisnolongerafuturisticconceptbutanurgentnecessity.

Forthedoers,thedoubters,traditionalistsandboundarypushers:thisreportisforyou.

Readontodiscoverinsightsthatwillhelptoinformyourstrategyforlong-termsuccessandshinealightonhowyoucangetstarted.Keytopicsinclude:

Globalexecutives’perspectivesonwhytheyareinvestinginaskills-basedstrategy

Themost-valuedskillsgroupsandpredictedgapswithinorganisationstoday

Howtogetstartedwithskills-basedstrategiesandthewayAIacceleratesthetransformation

4TheGlobalStateofSkills

Keyfindings

Leadersarebracingforatalentshortage.Overhalfofbusinessleaders(51%)areconcernedaboutafuturetalentshortage,drivenbythefactthatonly32%stronglybelievetheskillswithintheirorganisationtodayarethesamethattheywillneedforfuturesuccess.

Skills-basedstrategiesaretakinghold.Inpursuitofgreateragilityandresilience,55%ofbusinesseshavestartedtheirtransitiontoaskills-basedorganisation,withanadditional23%planningtodosowithinthenext12months.

Productivity,growthandagilityaretopofmind.

Keyreasonsformakingtheshifttoaskills-basedstrategyinclude:

?Improvedproductivityandbusinessgrowth(47%)

?Greaterinnovationandcreativity(46%)

?Increasedorganisationalagilityandinternalmobility(45%)

Digitalskillsarekeytofuturesuccess.Theskillsbusiness

leaderssaytheywillneedtoaccomplishtheirgoalsinthenext5yearsare:

?Digital(65%),suchasproficiencywithsoftwareandGenAI

?Operational(59%),suchasprojectmanagementandplanning

?Specialist(47%),suchasengineering,healthcareandaccounting

Leadersareworkingtoovercomechallenges.Thetopbusinessandtechnologychallengestobecomingaskills-based

organisationinclude:

?Thetimerequiredtoreskillemployees(43%)

?Resistancetochange(38%)

?Aligningskillsstrategieswithbroaderbusinessobjectives(34%)

?Connectingandconsolidatingdataacrosssystems(33%)

AIhasavitalroletoplayinthetransition.41%stronglyagreethatAIwillhelptomitigateaskillsshortagewiththesekey

expectedbenefits:

?Increasedproductivitythroughautomationofroutinetasks(52%)

?Enhanceddecision-makingbasedondata-driveninsights(52%)

?Morepersonalisedandeffectivelearninganddevelopment(47%)

“

AIisreshapingthe

workplace,butthe

humanelementhasneverbeenmoreessential.

Organisationsthat

embraceaskills-first

mindsetwillnotonly

unlockAI’spotential

butalsoharnesshumaningenuityinnewand

transformativeways.

ChrisErnst

ChiefLearningOfficer,Workday

5TheGlobalStateofSkills

BracingforaskiIIsshortage:

fromawarenesstoaction

Leaderscansenseastormonthehorizon,andit’smotivatingthemtoact.

51%

ofbusinessIeaders

aresomewhatorvery

concernedabout

apotentiaIskiIIsshortage

withinthenext3years.

3

ofIeadersstrongIy

beIievethattheskiIIs

withintheirorganisation

todayaretheonesthat

theywiIIneedforfuture

success.

OnIy

54%

ofIeaderssaythattheyhaveacIearviewofskiIIswithintheirorganisation.

Akeycontributingfactorforthisanxietyisalackofvisibility,withonly54%ofbusinessleadersreportingthattheyhaveaclearviewofskillswithintheirorganisation.

Ourconversationswithbusinessleadersindicatethatconcernsaboutupcomingskillsshortagesstemfromfactorssuchasthepaceof

technologicalchange,evolvingskillsrequirementsandcompetitionfortalent.

EvenbeforetheadventofAI,skills-basedstrategiescaptivatedthe

imaginationofbusinessleadersasawaytostayonestepaheadofthemarketandtheircompetition.Butthepaceofdisruptioninrecentyearshasorganisationsrealisingthattheyarehurtlingintothefuturewithoutaclearideaofwherethey’regoingortheobstaclestheymightencounter.

6TheGlobalStateofSkills

Confidencevsconcern

BusinessleadersinNorthAmericaaremoreconfidentthanthoseinotherregionsthattheircurrentskillswillmeetfuturedemands–andtheyarelessconcernedaboutpotentialskillsshortages.

ComparedtoEMEA(32%)andAPAC(27%),alargerpercentageof

organisations(35%)inNorthAmericastartedthetransitiontoaskills-basedapproachmorethan12monthsago.Similarly,27%oforganisationsinNorthAmericaareplanningtostartthetransitionwithinthenext

12months,comparedto22%and23%oforganisationsinEMEAandAPJrespectively.

ThisindicatesthatorganisationsinNorthAmericaarefurtheralongintheirskillsjourney,resultinginahigherdegreeofconfidencethattheywillbeabletoaddresstalentshortages.

ConcernaboutskiIIsshortagesbyregion:

53%

56%

40%

APAC

EMEA

NorthAmerica

Confidencethattoday,sskiIIsaretheonesneededforthefuture:

75%

65%

59%

APAC

EMEA

NorthAmerica

HRIeadersarethemostconcernedaboutskiIIsshortages.

Concernsaboutpotentialskillsshortagesaremorecommon

amongHRpractitionersthanotherdepartments.WithHRonthe

frontlineofskillstransformation,theyarelikelytohaveamore

comprehensivepictureof

evolvingtalentneedswithintheorganisation,resultinginhigherlevelsofconcernaboutthe

potentialskillsshortagesthatcouldemergewithinthenextfewyears.

59%

HR

49%

IT

48%

Finance

44%

Operations

7TheGlobalStateofSkills

Theindustriesmostconcernedaboutaskillsshortage,whichincludetechnology,mediaandretail,arealsothoseattheforefrontofthecurrentAIrevolution.Bycomparison,industriesthatrelyonhuman-centricskills,suchashealthcareandeducation,arelessconcerned–especiallyasthecoreskillsrequiredtosucceedarelesslikelytochangeinthenearfuture.

Most-concernedindustries:

56%Media

54%Technology

53%Retail

Least-concernedindustries:

Education

37%

Non-profit

36%

Healthcare

35%

Surveyquestion:Pleaseindicatehowmuchyouagreeordisagreewiththefollowingstatement:Iamworriedaboutamajorskillsshortageinthenextthree(3)years.Respondentschoseone(1)ofthefollowinganswers:Stronglydisagree,somewhatdisagree,neitheragreenordisagree,somewhatagree,stronglyagree.n=2,300.

8TheGlobalStateofSkills

Today,sskiIIsvs

tomorrow,sneeds

Tounderstandhowwellpreparedtoday’sorganisationsareforthefutureofwork,wesurveyedleaderstounderstandwhichskillsgroupsaremostcommonwithintheirorganisationtodayandwhichtheythinkwillbethemostimportantforachievingfuturegoals.

Forthepurposesofthisresearch,skillsweregroupedasfollows:

SkiIIsGroupDefinitionSkiIIsExampIes

DigitaI

Digitalskillsenableyoutousetechnologyeffectivelyandresponsibly.

Digitalliteracy,GenAI,

codingandprogramming

SpeciaIist

Specialisedknowledgeandabilitiesarerequiredinordertoperformtasksandsolveproblems

withinaparticularfield,industryorareaofexpertise.

Accounting,design,

engineering,healthcare

OperationaI

Operationalskillsareneededtocarryouttheday-to-dayactivitiesandprocessesthatkeepanorganisationfunctioningefficiently.

Planning,projectmanagement,timemanagement

IndividuaI

Individualskillsarethepersonalattributes,abilitiesandqualitiesthatmakeyouuniqueandinfluencehowyouapproachtasksandnavigatetheworld.

Criticalthinking,adaptability,resilience,creativity

SociaI

Socialskillsarewhatweusetocommunicateandinteractwithotherseffectively.Theseskillsare

crucialforbuildingconnections,collaborating

effectivelyandthrivinginvarioussocialsettings.

Empathy,emotional

intelligence,communication,conflictresolution

Leadership

Leadershipskillsaretheabilitiesindividualsdemonstratetoguide,motivateandinfluenceotherstowardsachievingacommongoal.

Goalsetting,delegation,coachingandmentoring

9TheGlobalStateofSkills

Thetopthreemostcommonskillsgroupswithinorganisationstodayare:

60%

51%

64%

Digital

Specialist

Operational

Notonlyarethesethemostcommonskillsgroupswithinorganisationstoday,theyarealsothesameskillsbusinessleaderssaytheirorganisationwillneedtoaccomplishitsgoalsoverthenextfiveyears.Businessleadersviewdigitalskillsasthemostimportantgroupforaccomplishingtheirfuturegoals,whichwillbekeytoinfusingAIintoexistingbusinessprocessesandensuringthatemployeesareabletoleveragethesetoolseffectively.

MostcommonskiIIsgroups

withinorganisationstoday:

MostimportantskiIIsgroups

organisationsneedinorderto

achievefuturegoals:

OperationaI

64%

59%

65%

47%

41%

39%

36%

DigitaI

60%

SpeciaIist

51%

Leadership

42%

SociaI

37%

IndividuaI

35%

Surveyquestions:Whichofthefollowingskillsaremostcommoninyourorganisationtoday?Whatexpertisemissingfromyourorganisationtodayduetoskillsshortagesishavingthegreatestimpact?Whatarethemostimportantskillsyourorganisationwillneedtoaccomplishitsgoalsinthenext5years?Respondentsselecteduptothree(3)answersforeachquestion.n=2,300.

WhilstAIiscurrentlyunabletoreplicatemanyofthespecialistskills

highlightedabove,thereisaveryrealpossibilitythatmanyoperationalanddigitalskillswillbecometheremitofAIagentsinthenearfuture–puttingmoreemphasisonthesocial,individualandleadershipskillsthatmakeusuniquelyhuman.

10TheGlobalStateofSkills

SociaI,individuaIanddigitaIskiIIsaretopareasofconcern

Theskillscategoriesthatleadersidentifiedasthemainareasofexpertisecurrentlymissingfromtheirworkforceinclude:

35%

Socialskills

suchas

communication, teamworkandproblem-solving

32%

Individualskills

suchaspersonal

adaptability,

resilienceand

creativity

31%

Digitalskillssuch

asdigitalliteracy

andproficiency

withsoftwareand

GenAI

WhiledigitalskillswillbeneededtoreaptherewardsofAIandothernewtechnologies,softskillsareessentialformanagingthetransitionandadaptinginthefaceoffuturechange.

BiggestskiIIsgapsbyindustry

Themostpressingskillsgapsvarybysector,reflectingtheuniquechallengesandopportunitiesfacedbydifferenttypesoforganisations.Forexample,theneedfordigitalskillsismostpressinginhighereducationandhealthcarewhereorganisationshavelongstruggledwiththeneedtobalancetechnologicalmodernisationwithbudget

concerns.

HigherEducation

Digitalskills

Hospitality

Socialanddigitalskills

Healthcare

Digitalskills

Media

Digitalskills

FinancialServices

Socialskills

ProfessionalServices

Individualskills

Manufacturing

Socialskills

Retail

Socialandindividualskills

Government

Individualskills

Technology

Socialandindividualskills

HumanskiIIs.AIsupport.

AseparateWorkdaystudy,

“ElevatingHumanPotential:The

AISkillsRevolution

”,reinforcesthe

importanceofsoftskills.Ourfindingsacrossstudiesareconsistent:

AIisexpectedtosupporttheskillsrevolution,whileuniquelyhumanqualitieswillremaincritical.

Ourpreviousresearchfoundthatthetopfourhuman-centricskillsdeemedleastlikelytobereplacedbyAIarealsothoseconsideredthemostimportant–bothtodayandinanAI-drivenfuture:

1.Ethicaldecision-makingandmoraljudgment

2.Emotionalintelligenceandempathy

3.Humannetworkingandrelationshipbuilding

4.Conflictresolution1

Surveyquestions:Whatexpertisemissingfromyourorganisationtodayduetoskillsshortagesismostimpactful?Respondentsselecteduptothree(3)answers.n=2,300.

11TheGlobalStateofSkills

SkiIIs-basedstrategies

takehoId

Embracingthetransition:

organisationsareweIIontheirway

Withmorethanhalfoforganisationsworldwide(55%)havingstartedthetransitiontoaskills-basedmodelandanadditional23%planningtodosowithinthenext12months,it’sclearthatleadersseeskills-basedstrategiesasnotonlyasolutiontoloomingtalentshortages,butalsoasawaytomaketheirorganisationmoreadaptableandresilientinthefaceofchange.

Themajority(81%)ofbusinessleadersbelievethattransitioningtoaskills-basedapproachincreasesanorganisation,spotentialfor

economicgrowth.

81%

WhatisaskiIIs-basedorganisation?

Askills-basedorganisationplacesskillsatthecentreofitsworkforcestrategy,creatinganewoperatingmodeltoelevatehumansand

superchargework.Skills-basedorganisationsuseAIandskillsasthedatalanguageofworktobuildmoreresilientandagileworkforces.

“

Workingalongsideforward-thinkingcustomersand

undergoingourownskillstransformation,we’re

nowseeingmeasurablebusinessimpactof

implementingskills-basedstrategies.Thismarks

acriticalshiftfromtheorytoresults.Intheageof

AI,arobustskills-basedstrategyisnolonger

a’nice-to-have’butthefoundationforsustainedcompetitiveadvantage.

JoshTarr

DirectorofSkillsBasedOrganisation,Workday

12TheGlobalStateofSkills

TopdriversforbecomingaskiIIs-basedorganisation

Organisationsadoptskills-basedstrategiesforavarietyofreasons,butoverall,topdriversreflectashifttowardsbuildingorganisationsthatareresilient,adaptableandhighperforming:

47%

expectimprovedproductivityandbusinessgrowth

46%

expectgreater

innovationandcreativity

45%

expectincreased

organisationalagilityand

internalmobility

Surveyquestion:Whatdoyoubelievearetheprimarydriversfortransitioningtoaskills-basedorganisation?Respondentsselecteduptothree(3)answers.n=2,300.

Anticipatedoutcomes:AIigningbenefitswithbusinessgoaIs

Theexpectedbenefitsofaskills-basedapproachcloselymirrorthedriversoutlinedabove:

51%

Improvedemployeeperformanceandproductivity

50%

Increasedprofitabilityandgrowthpotential

45%

Betteralignmentofemployeeskillswithorganisationalgoals

45%

Enhancedinnovationandabilitytosolvecomplexproblems

Surveyquestion:Whatbenefitsdoesyourorganisationexpectfromtransitioningtoaskills-basedorganisation?Respondentsselectedallanswersthatapplied.n=2,300.

13TheGlobalStateofSkills

GoaIsofskiIIs-basedstrategiesbydepartment:

59%

Operations:

Employeeperformance

andproductivity

improvements,and

increasedprofitability

andgrowthpotential

57%

IT:

Improvedemployee

performanceand

productivity

53%

Finance:

Profitabilityandgrowthpotential

46%

HR:

Moreeffectivetalent

acquisitionand

retention

Surveyquestion:Whatbenefitsdoesyourorganisationexpectfromtransitioningtoaskills-basedorganisation?Respondentsselectedallanswersthatapplied.n=2,300.

Businessleadersalsoseeaskills-basedapproachasawaytohelpachievesignificantsocialimpact:

82%

expectequalaccessto

opportunity

72%

expectincreaseddiversityand

inclusivity

61%

anticipate

areductioninunemployment

Surveyquestion:Pleaseindicatehowmuchyouagreeordisagreethataskills-based

organisationcanhelpachieveeachofthefollowingoutcomes:closeproductivitygaps,decreasedunemployment,equalaccesstoopportunity,increaseddiversityandinclusivity.Respondentschoseone(1)ofthefollowinganswers:Stronglydisagree,somewhatdisagree,neitheragreenordisagree,somewhatagree,stronglyagree.n=2,300.

Thisalignmentbetweendriversandanticipatedoutcomeshighlightstheperceptionamongbusinessleadersthataskills-basedstrategywillhelptoaddressbothorganisationalperformanceandbroader

workforcechallengesintheyearstocome.

14TheGlobalStateofSkills

Howorganisationsarefuture-proofingtheirworkforce

Organisationsareactivelydeployingavarietyofstrategiestoaddressskillsgapsandprepareforthefuture.Clearly,AIisprovingusefulinsupportingskills-basedinitiatives,risingtothetopofexistingstrategiesinplay.

Mentorshipandcoachingremaincrucial,however,andcontinuetobeatrustedapproachintheefforttosolveforskillsgaps.

AdoptingAIandothernewtechnoIogies

49%

ImpIementingmentorshipandcoachingprogrammes

46%

IncreasinginternaImobiIitytopIacetaIentmoreeffectiveIy

44%

ImpIementingaskiIIs-basedhiringstrategy

44%

InvestinginempIoyeeprofessionaIdeveIopment

41%

HiringquaIifiednewtaIent

37%

Surveyquestion:Whatisyourorganisationdoingtoaddressskillsgaps?Respondentsselectedallanswersthatapplied.n=1,940.

“

Tothriveintoday’s

competitiveandfast-

changinglandscape,

Workdayandmanyofourcustomersaretransformingtoaskills-basedworkforce.It’saboutensuringwe

havetherightpeoplewiththerightskillsattheright

timetomovethebusinessforwards;anditwouldn’tbepossiblewithoutAI.

AshIeyGoIdsmith

ChiefPeopleOfficer,Workday

Keystrategiesorganisationsareusingincludeadopting

AIandothernewtechnologies,implementingmentorshipandcoachingprogrammes,andincreasinginternalmobilitytoplacetalentmoreeffectively.

9%

MyorganisationisnotdoinganythingtoaddressskiIIsgaps

15TheGlobalStateofSkills

TheroIeoftechnoIogyinsoIvingthese

chaIIenges

?Fasterreskilling:

Personalisedlearningtools

reducetimeneededtoupskill.

?Reducedresistance:

Data-driveninsightsandclearROIencouragebuy-in.

?Improvedalignment:

Integratedsystemsreducesilosandinefficiencies.

ThegoaI:

AcceIeratethe

transitiontoa

skiIIs-basedfuture

ButreskiIIing,resistance

andaIignmentstruggIeshoIdorganisationsback

Transitioningtoaskills-basedorganisationisacomplexprocess,andorganisationsfaceseveralchallengesrelatedtoalackoforganisationalandtechnologicalmaturity:

43%

Timerequiredtoreskillemployees

Buildingnewskillscanstraintimeandresources,whichcanstrainexistingworkflows.

38%

Resistancetochange

Employeesandleadersmayhesitatetoadoptnewstrategies,fearingdisruptionoruncertainty.

34%

Alignmentissues

Manystruggletoensureskillsstrategiesmatchbusinessobjectives.

Takeaway:

Investinginmorematuresystemsandprocessesempowersorganisationstodrivesmoothertransitionsandhigher-impactoutcomes.

16TheGlobalStateofSkills

TechtroubIes:

DataintegrationandmeasurementremainkeyhurdIes

Technologybarriers–mainlyindatamanagement,infrastructureandmeasurability–stillblockthepathtoskills-basedstrategy:

33%

Connectingandconsolidatingdataacrosssystems

Fragmentedsystemshinderaunifiedviewofworkforceskills.

28%

Inadequatetechnologyinfrastructure

Outdatedsystemslimitimplementationandscale.

28%

Lackoftoolstomeasureskills

Organisationsstruggletoidentifygaps,trackprogressandproveROI.

Takeaway:

Acceleratingaskills-basedfuturerequiresintegrated,scalabletechnologiesforaunifiedapproachtomeasurementanddataintegration.

OvercomingchaIIenges:

EffectivecommunicationandtechadoptionarekeytoskiIIs-basedsuccess

Despitechallenges,themomentumofskills-basedstrategyisclear.

Toacceleratesuccess,leadersareprioritisingapproachescombiningleadership,communicationandtechnology.

Thetopprogrammesthoughtmostlikelytoacceleratesuccessinclude:

48%

Effectivechangemanagementstrategies,helpingorganisationsnavigatetheshiftwithstructuredplansandsupport

leadersandemployeesseethe“why”behindthetransition

48%

Clearcommunicationofbenefitsandgoals,ensuring

45%

Adoptionoftechnologyforskillsassessment,managementandmeasurementtohelpactonworkforceinsights

Takeaway:

Byaligningcommunication,leadershipandtechnology,organisationscan

overcomeresistanceanddriveasmooth,effectivetransitiontoaskills-basedapproach.

17TheGlobalStateofSkills

TakingthefirststeponyourskiIIsjourney

Despitethemajorityoforganisationsembracingaskills-basedapproach,notallaremovingatspeed.Someremainhesitant,with8%planningtostarttransitioningmorethanayearfromnow,andanotable13%

reportingnoplanstotransitionatall.

Fororganisationsyettobegintheirskills-basedjourney,it’sessentialtofocusoncreatingvalueforaparticularpartoftheorganisation.Thatcouldmeanadoptingskills-basedhiringtoaddressgapswithinaspecificdepartment,reskillinganentireteamthroughpersonalisedlearninganddevelopment,orimprovingretentionbymatchingexistingemployeeskillstogrowthanddevelopmentopportunitiesacrosstheorganisation.

Value-drivenapproachtoskillstransformation:

Focusonbusinessneeds:

Identifyandsolveforkeybusinessneedsatenterpriseandfunctionallevels.

Solvekeyusecases:

Findstrongusecasesandpartnerwithteamsaspilotstogetquickresults.

Advanceskillsdata:

Continuallyadvancethequalityandapplicationofskillsdata.

Evolvetalentpractices:

Usetalentpracticesasakeyvehiclefordeliveringthevalueofskills.

It’svitaltorememberthatbecomingaskills-basedorganisationis

ajourney.Evenduringtheearlystagesofthistransition,askills-basedapproachwillstarttodeliverresults,whichovertimewillbeginto

compoundandpositivelyimpactallaspectsoftheorganisation.

“

Weknowthatupskilling,

reskillingandoptimising

howweleverageourteamsisnecessarytoprepare

ourbusinessesforthe

futureofwork.Wealso

knowthatourcustomersaregrapplingwiththesesamechallenges.There’snobetterwaytoensure

thatwe’rebestequippedtohelpcustomersalongtheirownskillsjourney

thantowalkthepathfirst.

SheriRhodes

ChiefCustomerOfficer,Workday

18TheGlobalStateofSkills

AIasacataIystfor

change:41%beIieve

AIcanheIptomitigate

skiIIsshortages

IntheeraofAI,skillscreateacommonlanguagetoconnecthowworkgetsdone.AndAI,inturn,mapsthatskillslanguagetothemostimportantthingsthatworkerswanttodo–gethired,developnewskillsandadvancetheircareer.

EIevatinghuman

potentiaI:TheAIskiIIsrevoIution

TheimportanceofAIfor

acceleratingthetransitionto

askills-basedapproachisfurtherhighlightedbythefindingsfrom

ourreport“

ElevatingHuman

Potential:TheAISkillsRevolution

”Theresearchfoundthatmore

thanhalfofrespondents(53%)agreethatAIwillaugmenthumancapabilitiesandleadtoincreasedproductivityandnewformsof

innovation.

ThestudyillustratessomeofthewaysAIhelpsmakeahuman-

centricapproachtobusinessmoreattainable.

83%

believeAIwillboth

elevatetheimportance

ofuniquelyhumanskills

andenhancehuman

creativity,leadingto

newformsofeconomic

value2

83%

agreethatAItools

supporttheirability

todevelopnewskillsin

theirrole

19TheGlobalStateofSkills

Themomentforskillsisnow,andskills-basedAIopensupnewcategoriesofemployeeexperiencethatwereunimaginablejustafewyearsago.

Inadditiontoacceleratingthetransitiontoaskills-basedapproach,

businessleadersseeAIasawaytohelpaddresscurrentgaps,with41%stronglyagreeingthatAIhasthepotentialtomitigateskillsshortages.

WeaskedrespondentswhattheybelievearethepotentialbenefitsofusingAIaspartofthetransitiontoaskills-basedapproach.Thetopthreeinclude:

52%

Increasedproductivity

throughstreamIiningof

routinetasks

52%

Enhanceddecision-

makingbasedondata-

driveninsights

47%

MorepersonaIised

andeffectiveIearning

anddeveIopment

programmes

WhileAIhasanimportantroletoplay,itdoesn’toffera“silverbullet”

solution.WeakconsensusamongbusinessleadersaboutAI’stopbenefitsmeansthatorganisationsarestilltryingtodeterminethebestuseofAIaspartoftheirtransitiontoaskills-basedapproach.Howleadersproceed

willdependlargelyonwhichaspectofworkforcemanagementthey

plantoprioritise,whetherthat’shiringandretention,internalmobilityorpersonalisedlearninganddevelopment.

HowWorkdaycustomersareusingAI

Basedonourworkwithorganisationsworldwide,companiesarecurrentlyusingAItoacceleratetheirskillstransformationinthefollowingways:

Inference.Advancedmodels,suchasWorkdaySkillsCloud,inferskillsbyanalysingawiderangeofdatatypestoidentifyprobableskillsassociatedwithajoborworker.

Curation.Theinferreddataiscuratedtohighlightthehighest-qualityandmostrelevantskills,ensuringfocusontheskills

thatmattermosttoaworker’sroleandcontributions.

Matching.AIrecommendsmatchesbetweenskillsand

opportunities,whichcanincludebetteralignmentamong

employees’skillsandjobswithintheorganisation,personalisedlearningopportunitiesandcareergrowthpathways.

By