For many years, skills such as adaptability, grit, and resilience were touted as imperative if one is to thrive during the combustible period defined by the 4th industrial revolution.  As with so much, the coronavirus pandemic has not so much changed the forces in place prior to the pandemic as it has accelerated them.

Given that prior to the pandemic, there was a widely reported skills crisis across the economy, one might expect there to be a renewed effort among organizations to invest in their staff.  New research from Deloitte doesn’t exactly breed confidence.

It finds that over the past decade, companies have invested far more in technology than they have in the skills of their workforce, and this trend is largely continuing in the wake of covid-19.  Indeed, just 17% of organizations are making significant investment in the skills of their workforce.

This is despite roughly three-quarters of leaders stating that new skills and capabilities are going to be required as their organizations emerge from the pandemic.  It paints a largely muddled picture, as precious few organizations are countenancing using less regular sources of talent, such as the gig economy, either.

Lack of data

This situation is compounded by a fundamental lack of workforce analytics, with just 14% of organizations collecting data on the skills of their workforce, despite the majority understanding the importance of skills to their performance.

With this not reflected in investments or actions, however, it remains to be seen just how prepared organizations will be to the changing demands of this rapidly changing economic environment.

“COVID-19 has created a clarifying moment for work and the workforce,” Deloitte says. “This extraordinary time is when organizations should identify and invest in workers’ capabilities, develop new team structures, and evaluate how to best leverage the alternative workforce. If organizations don’t figure out how to capitalize on humans’ ability at work, they will not only sub-optimize the potential that technology creates, but hamper the reinvention required to thrive in the context of this pandemic and beyond.”