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Unveiling the Skills Gap in Corporations

In a comprehensive analysis of annual reports from leading corporations in the UK and the US, a troubling trend has emerged: the prioritization of skills development, particularly in the realm of technology, is alarmingly low. This assessment, conducted by Multiverse, examined over a thousand annual reports, revealing a stark skills gap in the face of growing technological demands.

The Disconnect Between Technology and Skills Development

The evidence is clear; while approximately 70% of companies in both the UK (69%) and the US (76%) reference technology as a strategic priority in their annual reports, a mere 7% of UK firms and 8% of US firms acknowledge skills and training as part of their core strategies. This oversight has persisted unchanged since 2013, indicating a critical dissonance in how boardrooms perceive the impact of technology on workforce needs.

“Investment in technology is skyrocketing, yet skills and training initiatives are stagnating,” commented Euan Blair, CEO of Multiverse. He emphasized that without proper support for workforce skills, companies risk jeopardizing substantial financial investments that could define their futures.

Insights from the Boardroom Skills Agenda Report

To prepare this report, Multiverse’s data science team, led by former Meta and Bain employee David Abelman, utilized a Large Language Model (LLM) to sift through over 100,000 pages of corporate documents, pinpointing skill development’s conspicuous absence from strategic priorities. The findings underscore an urgent need for companies to recognize the significance of their workforce amid rapidly evolving technological landscapes.

The Alarming Statistics

The details from the Boardroom Skills Agenda report highlighted pivotal statistics. Among FTSE 100 companies, while 49% mentioned AI in their strategies, a mere 34% included references to training in AI. Similarly, in the SP 100, 48% recognized AI yet only 18% mentioned AI training. Such patterns illustrate a clear disparity between acknowledging technological advancements and committing to developing the necessary skills to leverage those advancements.

The report echoes findings from the UK’s Institute for Fiscal Studies, reporting a decline in annual workplace training days over the past decade and a corresponding decrease in employer training investments. The trend was mirrored in the US, where companies reduced training expenditure significantly in 2024 compared to previous years.

Changing Perspectives on Skills Development

Despite these challenges, the analysis revealed a slight uptick in companies embracing skills development initiatives. The mention of reskilling programs in FTSE 100 reports nearly tripled over the past decade, surging from 7% to 20%. Meanwhile, mentions of technical upskilling more than doubled from 23% to 51%. In the SP 100, reskilling references rose from 1% in 2013 to 13% in their latest reports, along with an impressive sixfold increase in upskilling mentions.

However, it is disheartening that only 10% of FTSE 100 firms and just 4% of SP 100 firms disclosed their training investments in the latest reports, with average spending reported at £600 per employee in the UK and $1,700 in the US.

Innovative Training Approaches

The study also indicated that companies are increasingly recognizing the importance of diverse training methods. For example, 59% of FTSE 100 companies now mention apprenticeship programs, compared to 48% a decade ago. Similarly, the percentage of companies offering graduate programs has risen from 39% to 48%, and those with internship programs increased from 19% to 32%. The SP 100 reports, while still lagging, noted growth in discussions around apprenticeship programs, from 1% to 14% over the same period.

The Road Ahead

David Abelman noted the potential of carefully implemented LLMs in transforming how companies analyze and utilize training data. He pointed out that while the focus on technology has escalated, strategic skill development remains off the pace. However, emerging signals point to a shift in corporate attitudes towards learning and development that could redefine companies’ futures in the tech-driven market.

As technology continues to evolve, the imperative for corporations will be to connect technological investments meaningfully with workforce skills development. Without this integration, companies not only risk marginalizing their own tech strategies but also the potential for realizing significant returns on their investments in technology.

Through the lens of these findings, it becomes evident that the corporate landscape must evolve—not just in technological prowess but in prioritizing and investing in the skills that will harness that technology for the betterment of society and the economy at large.