To address the issue, 85% of respondents plan to prioritize upskilling, 70% will hire for new skills, 40% expect to reduce staff, and 50% will transition workers to growing roles, according to the WEF. It found that skills such as resilience, flexibility, resource management, quality control, and tech literacy are in high demand.
A key part of those efforts over the next five years will be centered around genAI; companies are expected to spend $42 billion a year on genAI projects such as chatbots, agents, research, writing, and summarization tools by 2030. Currently, 50% of companies with more than 5,000 employees use AI — with many more planning to do so. The rapid advance of the technology is contributing to the skills gap, forcing IT workers to learn about genAI even as genAI continues to evolve.
Though job postings for AI skills surged 2,000% in 2024, education and training haven’t kept pace, according to Kelly Stratman, Ernst & Young’s global ecosystem relationships enablement leader. As AI adoption spreads across industries, the gap is growing to include IT, cybersecurity, automation, and more, Stratman said, arguing that organizations must partner with AI leaders to access talent, training, resources, and tech solutions.
