There is an obvious skills gap between the knowledge taught by universities and what organisations expect from employees. Recent research revealed that close to half of human resource leaders believe that graduates are not well-prepared for the business world. A survey conducted revealed that a third of respondents perceive colleges as being most responsible for preparing students for the job market. It had also been found that 500 job openings remain vacant in the last year at 70 percent of the organisations that partaken in the survey, with close to half of them accounting this to under-qualified candidates. Despite so, at the same time, 74 percent of organisations are only investing $500 per employee on training and development at work.
Secondary research conducted by the professors of business administration at the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration demonstrated the significance of “soft skills” amongst graduates today. There is a unified consent that generally students coming up short in communication skills – both written and verbal, including public speaking, critical thinking and problem solving.
Therefore, an effective method to bridge the skills gap is by collaborating with universities to develop a valuable curriculum that will favor both students and businesses. However, over 40 percent of the organisations have failed to do so. The present partnership between universities and organisations have to be strengthened so that employers can convey their needs and assist in co-design the curriculum so that students will acquire the appropriate skills needed to be employable and fill in the skills gap required at companies. Faculty and administrations will have to make revisions to the curriculum based on market demands.
Many employers are concerned about their skills training budget and to resolve this challenge many have opt to leverage on smart technologies and outsourcing. However, it is believed that training the present workforce for the present and future skills will still be the most effective and efficient way to fill up the skills gap; and achieve the present and future goals.
Source: Business News Daily
Join us in the upcoming QS-MAPLE 2019 from 25-27 February 2019 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as we discuss the topic on “Research in the Middle East and Africa: Overcoming the Barriers”.