Skill Management

Study warns: shortage of skilled workers will continue to worsen

The shortage will continue to worsen, according to the figures of the "Industry Report Skilled Worker Shortage 2022". 72 percent of companies are only creating a limited number of projects because of this. "Many employers have been tempted to overlook internal employee resources via the hunt for external specialists. Instead of knowing the individual skills and also targeting them for in-house training, HR departments only focus externally," explains study editor and Skilltree CEO Markus Skergeth. His company addresses this problem and helps employers and employees get to know skills and match them with tasks and projects. In this way, the shortage of skilled workers can be quickly alleviated - because up to 30 percent of the missing skills are already available in the company, without the decision-makers being aware of it.

For example, among current employers, only 18 percent know the full career background of their employees - while nearly 50 percent don't, or don't know it for every employee. "While career experience is still important in the application phase, it starts to blur from the start - new employees tend to be 'pigeonholed' in onboarding instead of making sense of the skills they learned in previous jobs," Markus Skergeth further analyzes. A software-supported skills analysis, on the other hand, allows for optimal management of resources - and often unlocks potential in employees that previously remained hidden from team leaders and managers. "Our solution closes an essential gap that we have seen in numerous projects in companies. Human resources don't just exist on the labor market - but above all within their own company," explains the Skilltree boss.

Yet more than 50 percent of the 250 survey participants do not use a database to record employee skills - 30 percent at least sporadically, and fewer than ten percent use a full skills management solution. The ignorance of some employers is even more striking when it comes to special knowledge and skills such as foreign languages: Less than 20 percent of companies motivate their employees to contribute such achievements and talents - while 45 percent do little to nothing. "Our skill matching motivates employees and ensures greater satisfaction through greater visibility. This is already resolving part of the skills shortage," adds Markus Skergeth. The 250 company representatives from the executive floors surveyed therefore emphatically agree with the need for a skills management solution.