The constant evolution of technology brings new challenges for the future of businesses. Digital demands are changing at an unprecedented speed and attracting new types of profiles within a company.

Driven by the digital revolution, technology professions are growing at a pace that the labour market is struggling to satisfy. The digitalisation process has opened the path for new needs, namely the necessity to acquire or expand new skills.

To address businesses’ skill gaps, the corporate world has awakened to the emergence of reskilling. In recent years, companies have been reinventing themselves internally to remain competitive in today’s market, and reskilling is now essential for new job opportunities and career development.

What is reskilling?

Reskilling entails readjusting an employee’s skills for a new job within the company to meet a business’ needs. Its main objective is to create more versatile workers.

This new concept refers to the process of learning new skills required to do a completely different job. For both the company and the employee, it is a great way to transfer a person who fits better in another role, but for some reason has ended up working in a different job.

An example of this would be a business manager who excels in communication and marketing skills. If this person has an interest in marketing and is open to the idea of changing roles, this change could be a benefit to the company and also to himself.

Reskilling as the priority of the next decade

The way we work, as well as the roles we perform at work, have changed dramatically. While machines are replacing much face-to-face work, automation and innovation have led to the necessity of creating new jobs and positions within a company, as well as new skills.

In 2020, 87% of executives revealed the existence of skill gaps in businesses. As a solution, several studies show that 40% of workers will need reskilling by 2025. Given this scenario, companies have directed their attention to reskilling and upskilling, in order not to lose their position in the market.

Reskilling has become a buzzword to answer the need of staff and to achieve success. An asset for both employees and companies, reskilling can be particularly beneficial by presenting employment opportunities within the current company, increasing companies’ talent retention rates, and fighting the digital gap.

Benefits of reskilling

Reskilling has several benefits for both companies and employees. Let’s start with the benefits for businesses:

Avoiding redundancies and reducing costs: For many companies, digital transformation and the elimination of job functions result in dismissals. From the hiring stage to the onboarding process and training of the employee, hiring new employees involves a significant investment for companies. That investment is ultimately lost when employees leave the company. So, by improving employees’ skills and increasing talent retention, the company sees a reduction in its costs.

Retaining talent: Talented employees can be difficult to find. Investing in an employee’s training and giving them the opportunity to change jobs within the company helps to keep them interested. In result, they will not look for other job opportunities outside of the company. If the company offers possibilities for internal mobility, employees are twice as likely to stay with the company in the long term.

As for employees, reskilling can help you achieve your personal goals if you want to invest in career development.

Internal mobility: Knowing that there is a chance of promotion or changing job functions within a company is a great incentive for employees. Career promotion is not the main objective of reskilling – keeping a job within the same company is. Reskilling can be seen as an opportunity to expand skills and acquire new ones, and possibly reach a higher job position in the future.

Personal growth: Personal growth brings a sense of satisfaction that extends to the workplace. Whether reskilling involves acquiring skills for a very different role, or one with only a few differences, it is an investment in oneself. As employees acquire new skills, they also end up adding value to the company itself.

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