Five years from now, the global work environment will look a lot different than it does today. But many companies aren't prepared to deal with the change.

Business leaders around the world feel least prepared to execute on strategies for driving growth - among them, large-scale transformation, open innovation, digital channels, and talent management - according to a global survey released today by The Boston Consulting Group.

At a time when technological innovations offer new growth opportunities for the manufacturing sector, a lack of talent from "rising generations" threatens its future vitality, according to ThomasNet.com's Industry Market Barometer research.

Supply-chain professionals have been sounding the warning bell about the coming talent shortfall for several years now. But who's listening? At a time when the economy at large is coping with high unemployment and sluggish job growth, the notion of a sector that can't attract enough qualified bodies is tough to grasp. Still, that's the reality in the supply-chain world today, and it's only going to get worse.