Companies Seek to Fill Skills Gap by Retraining Their Own Workers

Businesses in need of workers in a tight labor market are increasingly training existing employees, seeking to enhance the skills they need from within as the modern workplace becomes more digitized, reports the Wall Street Journal . "The level of commitment in investing in employee training and retraining is at a level that we have never seen before," notes Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr. According to Taylor, the U.S. workforce's skills gap is partly driven by falling birth rates, an education system that has failed to train workers with some of the most sought-after skills, and accelerating workplace digitization. Companies also are finding it tougher to entice outside employees due to a lower unemployment rate. Business leaders with the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board acknowledge the long-term solution to the skills shortage must combine educational and immigration retooling, along with greater use of underutilized employees. However, Taylor says internal retraining is the most immediate solution and urges, "We are past the point that this is a choice."