Upskilling woes | Employers aren't meeting our L&D needs, half of UK workers say

Almost half of UK workers don’t believe their employers are meeting their development needs, a new study has found.

A new report from Cornerstone OnDemand, led by the Cornerstone People Research Lab, found that organisations in the UK are falling behind with their talent health initiatives. The data reveals a persistent gap between what employees think they need to be able to grow and develop at work, and what today's talent programmes are actually providing them.

The skills confidence gap persists

In the UK, 77% of employers feel confident in their organisation’s ability to develop skills whilst just 56% of employees feel the same – creating a 21% confidence gap between employers and employees. Furthermore, whilst 89% of employers feel confident that they are equipped with the resources to develop skills, this sentiment is shared by just 64% of employees. This illustrates a stark contrast between how employers perceive the effectiveness of their talent programmes, and how employees feel.

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However, there has been a slight improvement in UK employee confidence over the years. While in 2020, just 49% of UK employees felt confident in their companies’ ability to develop their skills, the figure stands at 56% in 2023.