(BPT) - Employers and workers see a world filled with uncertainty and change – from conversations about AI and automation replacing or helping certain job fields to questions around which skills are needed to thrive in an economy shaped by continuous technological change.
One vital way for employees to improve how well they do their jobs and prepare to advance their careers is by upskilling — known as the process of expanding or developing new skills to be better perform in a current job or improve career prospects.
一项新的调查显示， "Closing the Activation Gap: Converting Potential to Performance by Upskilling the Workforce,揭示了提升技能的重大障碍是如何存在的, resulting in fewer women and people of color having access to the skills they need, 尽管许多组织都在努力提高员工的技能. The research, conducted by Reputation Leaders and sponsored by 德大学, provides an in-depth look at American workers and their growing interest in skills development, 什么对员工的职业发展至关重要, 也有利于企业发展和经济竞争力.
机会不平等
The study on upskilling found that women face persistent barriers, showing men are much more likely to report having access to upskilling (73%) than women (56%). This lack of access leaves women at risk of leaving their current employer at 两次 男性的比率, with 28% reporting they feel stuck in their positions and less able to advance in their careers. On top of that, women cite a lack of time and family priorities as barriers to learning.
也, 根据调查, 有色人种对提高技能最感兴趣, 但是最不容易接触到的. The survey found that 80% of Black and 71% of 拉美裔 workers who do not have access to company-paid upskilling would be very or extremely likely to use it, 而白人工人的比例为62%.
尽管66%的黑人, 拉美裔, and AAPI workers acknowledge upskilling as necessary for future career development, 目前只有42%的人获得了公司支付的技能提升. This is due in part to systemic barriers — with an average of 37% of Black, 拉美裔 and AAPI workers agreeing that workplace bias creates impediments to their upskilling goals.
“说/做”的差距
This research further indicates that too many American employees are falling through a "say/do gap" — they say ongoing focused skills development is essential to their careers, 但不要真正参与. Even with employers (97%) and employees (96%) unanimously agreeing that upskilling is essential to professional success, employers and employees alike acknowledge they could be doing more to take advantage of skills development opportunities or to support access to those opportunities.
Only 1 in 3 workers think employers live up to their responsibility to prepare American workers for the future workplace, while employers estimate that only half (51%) of workers use company-paid upskilling offered to them. As the "say/do" gap expands and the labor market undergoes transformations that demand new skill sets, employers and workers must address the systemic obstacles keeping workers from accessing critical opportunities for career growth.
“尤其是有色人种和女性员工, the barriers to upskilling make the gap between how they might want to upskill and being able to make that happen even wider,德大学的首席包容官说, 归属及公平事务主任 维罗妮卡德隆. "This puts employers and employees alike at a disadvantage as the world of work and technology continues to evolve."
寻找解决方案
A failure to develop a future-ready workforce will have far-reaching, 对生产力的负面影响, 效率, 以及美国的经济增长.S. To address the now obvious, say/do gap, workers and employers must take action.
教育机构, 比如德, 为学习者提供灵活和定制的课程, can help provide more opportunities for upskilling in a wide variety of fields. 此外，该大学的劳动力解决方案部门， 德Works, marries worker and employer needs to identify and deliver learning solutions.
“今天的就业经济正在快速发展, so the ability for workers to adapt means the difference between career and business success and stagnation,” 斯佳丽Howery他是德公共劳动力解决方案副总裁. "Continued skills development and growth is essential not just for employees to excel, but for the continued success of any business or organization."
Learn about educational opportunities in your chosen career field at 德.edu.
