Nine in ten human resources leaders said that they believe they will need to reskill up to 50% of their workforce over the next five years in order to effectively perform their job functions, based on a recent report.

According to a report published January 23 by the recruitment outsourcer PeopleScout and the human resources company Spotted Zebra, entitled “The Skills Crisis Countdown,” 34% of participants said that they are concerned about how their skills will rise to meet changing expectations brought on by automation and new technology.

The study showed that 45% of respondents said that their organization does not have any plans to enable workforce transformation over the next three years. Meanwhile, 93% of HR leaders said that they are not fully prepared to invest in reskilling and supporting their employees.

Almost half of HR respondents said they face challenges when it comes to upskilling or reskilling their employees, while three in ten HR leaders admitted that they do not believe upskilling or reskilling their employees to be a priority.

Unfortunately, workers do not feel that their employees are aware of what they can bring to the table because 56% of those surveyed said that they feel their skills are being underutilized. Women are particularly affected by this issue because only 40% of female respondents said their current role effectively utilizes all of their skills.

Conversely, individuals who feel their jobs properly utilize their skills tend to be happier with 79% of participants saying they are more likely to have a positive working experience if their employer adopts a skills-based approach when it comes to their operations.

"Skills-based talent strategies are essential, and the clock is ticking for employers across all regions and industries," said Nick Shaw, the founder and chief customer officer of Spotted Zebra. "Without future-focused skills strategies for both hiring and development, organizations will suffer lost revenue and productivity when critical jobs are left unfilled."

PeopleScout and Spotted Zebra interviewed over 100 HR leaders and more than 2,000 employees across Europe, North America and the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region for this survey.