(Finance) – Concerned about rapid technological growth and the incessant demand for new skills, the workforce in Italy seems to be grappling with a real “skills emergency”: well 7 out of 10 employees feel the need to strengthen their know-how to be more successful in the future and are asking for support from employers to close this gap, offering more opportunities for upskilling and reskilling. This is what emerges from the latest research by GoodHabitzthe international corporate training platform, which engaged more than 24,000 employees around the world to understand changing labor market trends and identify gaps and skills critical to future talent and business growth.
The Italian sample, in the analysis conducted by GoodHabitz in collaboration with Markteffect, is made up of 1277 workers and 434 decision makers aged between 25 and 65 who are actively working.
The study points to two key areas where workers are struggling to keep up: digital skills and soft skills. In fact, half of those interviewed (53%) admit that the lack of personal development opportunities makes it difficult to improve the soft skills necessary for your job.
In particular, according to employees, the three skills that are crucial for their future are: first digital skills (54%), closely followed by language skills (46%) and flexibility and efficiency (41%). This is no surprise, considering that 67% of Italians expect their work to become increasingly digitally focused in the next two years, and already more than half of the country’s workforce (52%) carries out their profession completely or partially remotely.?
The under 35 – we read in the report -, they tend to consider transversal skills related to important mental health and well-being, while the 35-49 year old group believes that language skills will become more important in the future; finally, the over 50s would like to focus more on digital skills.?
According to the decision makers (HR managers and Learning and Development managers), however, the three skills in which to invest in the long term differ from those indicated by the employees: in first place we find teamwork skills (43%), followed by communication skills almost equally (42%) and digital skills (36%).
“Prepare for the future to continue to be successful in your work” is one of the most relevant reasons that push employees to train, we read in the research. 35% believe that it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that the company offers personal development opportunities to employees. Furthermore, 62% of Italians agree that personal development opportunities play an influential role in the decision to stay in their current job, and, among these, it is impactful to highlight how 8 out of 10 would leave their employer within a year if this did not guarantee them the possibility of growth.
The research found that although employers are starting to recognize the importance of upskilling and reskilling, many are still not doing enough to meet the growing demand for training and development.
A emerges clear gap between decision makers and employees: 80% of employers say that managers encourage their people to develop new skills, but only 51% of workers actually feel encouraged to do so. Many perceive a further disparity: almost a third of professionals believe that the company does not invest equally in the personal development opportunities of its employees. Finally, just 52% of Italians interviewed declare that their employer offers training courses relevant to their job, while for 37% their employer does not offer any training.
“Periodically listening to your talents is a step that employers should never underestimate. This allows them to promptly identify the skills required and provide training and opportunities to fill the gap,” he said Paolo Carnovale, Country Director of GoodHabitz Italia. “In an increasingly connected society, it becomes essential to know emerging technologies and digital tools, but also to equip oneself with transversal soft skills such as communication, teamwork and leadership, which allow you to build solid relationships with colleagues and customers and to manage complex situations. The benefits not only have a positive impact on the employees, but also on the organization, which can thus remain competitive and effectively achieve its business objectives.”
(Photo: Carrie Allen www.carrieallen.com on Unsplash)