Survey Finds Gap In Workforce Soft Skills

Daily News, September 30 2013

The U.S. skills gap is much more than a dearth of technical, computer skills, according to the State of the Economy and Employment Survey from Adecco Staffing US.

In the survey*, 92% of senior executives in the U.S. acknowledge there is a serious gap in workforce skills and 44% of respondents cited soft skills — such as communication, critical thinking, creativity and collaboration — as the area with the biggest gap. 22% cited a lack of technical skills as the culprit for the U.S. skills gap, followed by leadership with 14% and computer skills with 12%.

“It’s interesting to see how the definition of the skills gap has evolved from being so heavily focused on technical and computer skills to ‘soft’ skills related to communication and creativity,” said Janette Marx, senior vice president at Adecco Staffing US. “Educational institutions may overlook these elements in today’s digital age, but schools must integrate both hard and soft skill sets into their curriculums, which in turn will help better prepare candidates and strengthen our country’s workforce.”

Other findings include:

• 59% of respondents do not believe colleges and universities in the U.S. offer curriculums that adequately prepare students for today’s workforce.
• Among those respondents who said there is a skills gap in the U.S. workforce, 89% believe corporate apprenticeships or training programs could help alleviate the problem. Yet, 42% said the greatest barrier to creating in-house training programs is the cost of development.
• Of those who believe there is a skills gap in the United States, 30% said it most affects the manufacturing industry. 21% cited technology and 19% cited professional and business services.

*The telephone survey included 500 senior executives – vice president and above – across a variety of industries within the United States. It was conducted from Aug. 15 to Aug. 23, 2013.