Only 16% of New Hires Possess Essential Skills: Report

A new Gartner report states that organizations are struggling to hire quality talent as only 16 per cent of new hires have the requisite skills for both their current role and the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led employers to reassess how to get work done the best and what skills their employees will need to adapt in this new context.

The report stated, “Candidates are scrutinizing organizations’ responses to the pandemic, looking to see how companies have treated employees during this time.”

Recruiting leaders need to change their strategies from replacing the workforce to instead shaping the workforce by defining needs based on skills, sourcing talent more broadly, and creating responsive employment value propositions (EVPs), to acquire new talent.

Lauren Smith, Vice-president in the Gartner HR practice said, “Traditional recruiting methods are unable to compete with the large-scale shifts to the workplace and the labour market”

The current shaky situation has made traditional talent pools less viable for sourcing talent as high-quality candidates with traditional qualifications are unlikely to leave their current positions. However, existing roles may require up to 10 new skills by 2021.

Leading organizations have thus shifted their focus from replacing the workforce to shaping the workforce. As a result, the best-recruiting functions that excel in these workforce-shaping behaviours see a 24 per cent increase in quality of hire, as per Smith.

The research further states that 43 per cent of candidates today are self-taught in one or more of their role's requirements. Also, organizations are increasingly developing high-value skill sets in employees through accelerated training programs. 

It has also become imperative, for both employees and organizations to relook at reskilling to stay relevant in the job market, with an acceleration in demand for new skills for the present and the future. This comes as an impact of the pandemic.