Technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate, and the skills required by technologists are evolving just as quickly. According to Fiona Mark, principal analyst at Forrester Research, a third of the skills data scientists were using five years ago are now outdated, replaced by newer and different skills.
This rapid technological progress is exacerbating the ongoing tech talent shortage. Despite recent layoffs in the tech industry, workers with key technical skills are still in high demand, and turnover in tech roles remains high, said Susan Vroman, senior lecturer, management at Bentley University.
As a result, organizations are increasingly prioritizing the expansion of the technical skills of their existing employees, a practice known as upskilling. “Employers have to upskill their employees so they can do the work that needs to be done and ensure their organizations can adapt to all these changes in technology,” said Mark.
Upskilling benefits both employee and employer
Learning new skills helps tech employees build expertise, improves their job satisfaction, and increases their earning potential and future career opportunities, said Julie Schweber, a senior HR knowledge advisor at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Thomas Vick, senior regional director at recruitment firm Robert Half, agreed. Employees who learn new skills and new technologies will become more marketable to other departments within their organizations, he added. They’ll also become marketable to other organizations in the event they decide to change jobs.
For employers, upskilling reduces the costs of hiring new workers who have the skills they need. These savings more than offset the costs of upskilling existing employees, according to the 2020 “Rethinking the Build vs. Buy Approach to Talent” report from consulting firm Whiteboard Advisors.
“Research suggests that the cost of recruiting a mid-career software engineer (who earns $150,000-200,000 per year) can be $30,000 or more including recruitment fees, advertising, and recruiting technology expense,” the report stated. “This new hire also requires onboarding and has a potential turnover of two to three times higher than an internal recruit. By contrast, the cost to train and reskill an internal employee may be $20,000 or less, saving as much as $116,000 per person over three years.”
In addition, organizations that upskill their workers demonstrate their commitment to improving the employee experience. Learning new skills can boost employee satisfaction, engagement, and performance, factors that are crucial to the future success of an organization. And it demonstrates to workers that the company supports and cares for them enough to invest in their professional development, Schweber said.
What’s more, enhancing employee tech skills enables organizations to adapt…
2024-02-06 17:00:04
Article from www.computerworld.com