U.S. employers and workers in frontline-heavy industries agree that workforce preparedness training is lacking, but they sharply disagree about exactly where the problem lies.
“Employers are focused on AI readiness, adaptability and operational performance, while employees are focused on career mobility, leadership and advancement,” said CEO Dan Rosensweig of Chegg, a global learning and workforce skilling company. “Neither side is wrong, but most training programs were never designed to bridge that gap.”
The company recently surveyed equal numbers of employers and employees across 10 frontline-heavy industries, including retail, manufacturing and finance. The research reveals a growing perception gap between employers and employees about which skills are most urgently needed in today’s workplace.
- Employers identified AI and automation skills (36%) and digital or IT capabilities (24%) as the areas most lacking in their workforce, reflecting the growing pressure to adapt to rapidly changing technologies.
- Employees, however, pointed to leadership and people management (25%) as the biggest deficiency in their workplace, followed by communication and teamwork skills (24%).
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The findings suggest that many workers see the challenge as not only a technical skills issue, but also as a management and workplace culture issue.
Workforce skills shortages are already creating significant operational and human costs across industries. Nearly one-third of employers say they spend more than eight hours a week, the equivalent of a full working day, compensating for workforce skills gaps. In manufacturing, this figure rises to 46%. When asked to identify some of the most common impacts of skills shortages in their organizations, employers also identified increased mistakes and rework (34%); increased stress and burnout (33%); heavier workloads (31%); and overtime or longer shifts (29%).
The strain is also affecting morale and retention, with nearly half of employers and more than one-third of employees reporting they have considered quitting because of stress caused by understaffing or workforce capability gaps.
In addition, the report reveals a growing disconnect between how quickly employers are embracing AI and how slowly employees are adapting to it in their day-to-day work. The biggest challenge may not be simply an AI skills gap, but an awareness gap, as many employees do not yet recognize how rapidly workplace expectations are changing around them. More than half of employees say AI is not currently used in their role at all, meaning they have little opportunity to build practical fluency with the technology on the job.
“What workers are telling us very clearly is that generic training without practical application or measurable career impact no longer works,” Rosensweig said. “At a time when AI is rapidly reshaping the workplace, organizations need training that helps employees perform better in the roles they have today, while building the capabilities needed for tomorrow.”
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