Skillsoft Research Reveals More Than Half of IT Professionals Likely to Pursue a New Position Within the Next Year
Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL) has released its 2022 IT Skills and Salary Report, highlighting critical challenges in the IT industry. The report, based on insights from nearly 8,000 professionals, reveals that 66% of IT decision-makers identify skills gaps, though this marks a 10% decrease from the previous year. A staggering 53% of IT staff are likely to seek new opportunities within the next year. Despite some improvements in training engagement, the report emphasizes the ongoing issues of talent turnover and the need for a cultural shift towards continuous learning and development in organizations.
- 59% of IT decision-makers expect budget increases for skills development in the coming year.
- 86% of IT professionals engaged in training over the past year, indicating a strong desire for skill enhancement.
- 66% of IT decision-makers still see skills gaps within their teams.
- 53% of IT professionals are likely to look for new jobs within the next year, indicating high turnover risk.
The 2022 IT Skills and Salary Report illustrates the importance of creating cultures of upskilling to mitigate talent attrition
Over the past year, the workplace has been defined by employee-led “movements,” namely the Great Resignation and “quiet quitting.” Meanwhile, the pace of digital transformation and lack of enough technical resources have pushed many IT professionals to a point of burnout. Together, these trends are fueling record rates of talent turnover across all industries. Skillsoft’s report found that IT leaders’ two biggest challenges are employee retention and recruitment. Thus, organizations must take proactive steps to shift their cultures to ensure employees feel fulfilled, engaged, and motivated.
“Learning is the catalyst for mutually beneficial growth for employees and employers, especially as organizations struggle to retain technical talent and keep pace with innovation,” said
Among IT professionals that changed employers in the past year, their top three reasons for leaving were better compensation, a lack of training and development, and a lack of work-life balance, respectively. Meanwhile, the top cited inhibitor to training is that management doesn’t see a need for it. This is despite
Additional takeaways from Skillsoft’s 2022 IT Skills and Salary Report include:
Despite improvement, IT skills gaps still weigh heavy on IT decision-makers' minds.
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80% say skills gaps pose high or medium risk to their team’s ability to meet objectives. -
63% have been unable to fill at least three positions in the last year. -
The top factors driving skills gaps are difficulties with hiring skilled candidates (
44% ) and employee retention (33% ).26% say not enough is being invested into training. - The top three most challenging areas to find qualified talent are cloud computing, data analytics/big data/data science, and cybersecurity.
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Positively,
59% expect a budget increase in the next year (up from35% in 2021), with the top skill areas of investment being cloud computing, security, and AI and machine learning.
IT professionals are hungry for knowledge. Power skills are increasingly critical.
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86% have taken some form of training in the last year. The top three reasons for doing so are to prepare the organization for new technology upgrades, earn a salary increase, and as a personal choice or interest to upskill. -
61% of organizations offer a leadership development program. Team communication, interpersonal communication, and emotional intelligence were cited as the most important power skills to build. - As power and professional skills rise in importance in the IT industry, one-in-four have opted into this type of training in the last year.
DEI efforts in the IT industry are improving, but there is still work to be done.
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75% of respondents say their organization takes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) seriously, and74% feel comfortable expressing their opinions at work. -
Still, roughly
25% have experienced microaggressions, harassment, and/or discrimination in the workplace. -
Exploring employees’ feelings about how management is addressing DEI challenges,
43% of non-management IT staff say they are recruiting diverse talent. However, only19% see them setting and measuring DEI goals and objectives and just17% say they are providing mentorship, coaching, or executive sponsorship.
“While the IT industry continues to face a multitude of challenges, they are by no means insurmountable,” added
Resources:
Report Methodology:
Skillsoft's 2022
About Skillsoft
Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL) delivers transformative learning experiences that propel organizations and people to grow together. The Company partners with enterprise organizations and serves a global community of learners to prepare today’s employees for tomorrow’s economy. With Skillsoft, customers gain access to blended, multimodal learning experiences that do more than build skills, they grow a more capable, adaptive, and engaged workforce. Through a portfolio of best-in-class content, a platform that is personalized and connected to customer needs, world-class tech and a broad ecosystem of partners, Skillsoft drives continuous growth and performance for employees and their organizations by overcoming critical skill gaps and unlocking human potential.
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Source: Skillsoft
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