In today’s highly digitalized world, it’s nearly impossible for a company to survive without the use of modern technology. Behind every successful enterprise sits a large and increasing stack of tech tools and solutions designed to tackle a wide variety of tasks and processes, from planning to management to production and beyond. With technology becoming an indispensable component of all business operations, companies need to team up with talented IT professionals who can help them to leverage the power of the latest tech innovations and maintain their efficiency and competitiveness.

However, as they search for the right talent, businesses are inevitably faced with a disturbing reality: the professionals they need so much are becoming increasingly difficult to find. The demand for capable IT experts is growing exponentially, but the existing candidates and employees fall short in terms of skills and expertise and are often unable to match companies’ needs and requirements. And what’s even more concerning is that the tech skills gap continues to widen.

The tech skills gap is turning into a chasm

The challenge of finding skilled IT specialists who can respond to the current and varied needs of companies and organizations is not a novelty. Businesses in different sectors have been aware of this issue and have struggled with it for years. But instead of finding viable solutions and seeing an improvement, the situation is only getting worse.

Statistics reveal the extent of this troubling trend. According to the Digital Leadership report for 2023, 67% of tech leaders believe a lack of skills is responsible for their companies’ inability to keep up with changing trends. Similarly, the State of the Nation Report reveals that 76% of businesses lacked the digital skills they required. Moreover, in a recent International Data Corporation (IDC) survey, it is estimated that by 2026, up to 90% of organizations from all across the world will be affected by the skills crisis plaguing the tech sector.

The tech talent shortage has far-reaching consequences in the business world, leading to a myriad of issues such as project delays, higher cybersecurity risks, lower productivity levels, higher costs, missed objectives and business opportunities, declining customer satisfaction, loss of revenue, and so on. This highlights the necessity of identifying the root causes of the current IT skills gap and taking adequate measures to address the problem.

Rapidly evolving technology

Unsurprisingly, one of the main reasons for the skills shortage in the tech market is linked to the fast pace of technological evolution. Many tech areas, such as AI, cloud computing, and data analytics, have experienced tremendous progress in recent years. Old technologies are cycled out and replaced with newer ones at a faster rate than ever before, making it difficult for professionals in the industry to keep up with these changes and level up their skills to meet shifting market demands.

As a result, the skills that employees possess, which would have given them a considerable advantage in the work environment just a few years ago, are insufficient or irrelevant in today’s job market.

The impact of accelerating technological change also extends the education system, where courses and curriculums are often outdated and unable to prepare students for the realities they’re going to face upon entering the workforce. That leads to a notable discrepancy between the skills and knowledge students acquire during training and the ones that are in demand.

---

---

A clear lack of focus on soft skills

There’s an obvious over-focus on hard skills at the expense of soft skills development from both employers and candidates in the IT space, and everyone suffers because of it. On the one hand, tech professionals overlook the necessity of developing their soft skills and think that all it takes to move forward in their careers is to work on enhancing their technical abilities. So, a lot of them end up occupying positions where soft skills like teamwork and flexibility or leadership capabilities are required and struggle to keep up with their job’s requirements because they are not properly prepared.

On the other hand, many employers evaluate applicants based only on the hard skills they possess. It’s understandable that organizations would prioritize technical skills since these are the bread and butter of any job in the tech industry. Therefore, by looking at academic credentials, companies can determine how well employees would do when required to apply their knowledge to specific tasks.

However, one shouldn’t neglect the fact that hard skills can also be learned on the job, while soft skills, which are behavioral in nature, are much more difficult to acquire as they are shaped and nurtured through years of experience and practice. Moreover, with IT projects and the entire tech space growing more complex, technical prowess is no longer sufficient to excel in a role and ensure optimal outcomes. For example, remote IT workers with strong soft skills perform better than those who lack in this area since they find it easier to adapt to changing job demands.

This underscores the need for employers to adopt a more holistic approach when screening candidates, taking both soft and hard skills into consideration, and also shows that aspiring tech professionals should do well to cultivate their soft skills if they want to thrive and climb up the career ladder. This involves focusing on aspects such as being a good communicator, working well with others, being flexible and adaptable, knowing how to navigate challenging situations and find the best course of action to solve a problem, thinking outside the box, managing time effectively, or showing empathy and having a positive attitude.

Building essential soft skills in the tech realm would give candidates a leg up in job interviews and while performing their duties and help companies hire more competent team members who match their talent needs.

Insufficient training and increased competition

The shortcomings in the educational system are further enhanced by a lack of investment in training and development from companies, leaving employees to fend for themselves. Many businesses treat the upskilling and reskilling processes much too lightly, offering their staff very few opportunities for professional progress or don’t invest in employee training at all. Therefore, tech professionals end up lagging behind in terms of skills development, which results in poor performance and drastically limits their career prospects.

The crux of the matter can also be reduced to a simple imbalance in supply and demand dynamics. With tech usage being so widespread in the business sphere, the demand for talented tech professionals who demonstrate relevant skills and aptitudes continues to grow as companies in all sectors compete to attract and retain capable tech employees.

Unfortunately, there simply aren’t enough qualified individuals entering the market, possibly due to an unsuccessful collaboration between organizations in the tech industry and educational institutions. Given that the talent pool is quite limited, companies are naturally facing difficulties in finding suitable candidates for key tech areas such as AI, IT support, or cybersecurity.

High turnover rates

It’s also important to understand how the turnover rate impacts the skills gap in the tech market. The tech sector is known for having the highest staff turnover rate out of all industries, estimated at 13.2%, according to recent data. This means that retention is a major issue for all businesses employing tech professionals. The migration from one company to another can be explained by the sector’s dynamic nature. Nevertheless, when professionals change employers frequently, they don’t have enough time to nurture and develop their skills and experience in a professional setting, leading to stagnation.

To sum it up, the tech skills gap presents itself as a multi-factorial issue that could further escalate in the future and, therefore, can only be solved through the joint effort of stakeholders in the tech industry and educational institutions.

---