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Future Talent Today: Survey Results

 

Are South West businesses ready for the future?

 

Technology is changing every aspect of our lives, and our careers are no exception. Estimates predict that 85% of the jobs in 2030 will be invented between now and then and that 65% of the jobs that our children will do in the future don’t exist today[1] .

Keen to find out what our clients think, we conducted The ‘Future Talent Today survey’, asking business leaders in the South West to share their ideas and options with us and to consider if their workforce is prepared for the so called ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’?

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The results uncover the concerns about future skills shortages and the dissolution of current workplace roles. The key findings are as follows:

Skills shortages:
  • 68% of businesses reported skills shortages among their workforce (26% reported a skills shortage in managers and team Leaders. 42% reported a skills shortage in non- managerial specialists digital analysts, engineers, marketing, supply chain, and so on.)
  • 58% said their workforce is not currently equipped with sufficient technical and/or digital skills
Roles at risk:
  • The main roles, identified as being at risk in the future, are support and admin roles which respondents saw as roles which can easily be replaced by technology/ automation
Skills of the future:
  • Communication was identified as the top soft skill for the future, with 58% ranking it in their top 3, closely followed by leadership (37%) and personal productivity (32%). Research by the ManpowerGroup corroborates this and predicts that, by 2030, demand for human skills – social and emotional soft skills – will grow across all industries by 26% in the U.S and by 22% in Europe.
  • Businesses noted that an increase in technology could lead to more technically skilled roles emerging such as developers and programmers

The results from the Future Talent Today survey provide a fascinating insight into the skills required in the workplace now and for the future.

King Recruit tips:

It is surprising to see that nearly 70% of businesses report that they have skill shortages in vital areas of the business and that 58% say that their employees are ill-equipped for the workplace of the future.

 

  • Research shows that 84% of employers will be upskilling their workforce by 2020 and we encourage you to do the same! Upskilling your employees can help identify how technology can be used to deliver better value and service to your customers.

 

  • We also encourage businesses to consider looking further afield, outside of the immediate talent pool, for the specific set of skills they require.

 

  • The survey revealed only 32% of businesses have a plan in place to incorporate rapidly emerging technical and digital skills. Now is the time to start thinking about how your business will change in the next 5 or 10 years, taking an innovative approach and investing in the development of roles and the appointment of future talent will undoubtedly help to narrow the gap between the workplace of today and the future.
If you have questions about how to future proof your recruitment strategy contact the team at King Recruit: Here

We would like to thank all of the businesses who took part in the ‘The Future of Talent Today survey’ which gathered data from businesses across the South West and across a range of sectors, including: Consumer Services & Products, Digital and Tech, Education, Energy, Engineering, Financial Services, Media, Marketing & Advertising and Small-Scale Manufacturing.

[1] McLeod, Scott and Karl Fisch, “Shift Happens”, shifthappens.wikispaces.com

Download the PDF Guide Here