In today’s environment of rapid technological change, U.S. businesses are beginning to notice a growing gap between the skills they need and those they can access. Earlier this year, research from the consulting firm Robert Half found that 62% of hiring managers say skills gaps have worsened over the past 12 months, and only 6% say they have the talent needed to deliver high-priority projects.
In practice, this means that companies are under increasing pressure to reskill their workers at scale. To meet this challenge, employers are investing increasingly large sums in training programs and, by 2025, training spending jumped 4.9% at $102.8 billion. But is this investment paying off?
A new study by Chegg, a global learning and workforce training company, suggests that may not be the case. The company Frontline Worker Skills Index surveyed more than 2,000 U.S.-based employers and employees across ten frontline industries and found a striking disconnect. While the majority of employers believe their training programs are working, employees often see little evidence that these efforts are helping them grow their careers.
No change in salary or role
According to the report, 77% of employers believe their job training programs are effective overall, while only 58% of employees agree. Among workers who viewed training programs as ineffective, more than half (51%) said the training was too general and lacked relevance to their role, while 24% said the skills taught were not used on the job. At the same time, almost three quarters (71%) of employees say that the training has not led to any change in their remuneration or their role.
Although employees are clearly looking for skills that allow them to be more effective in their current roles, the report further reveals that 40% of employees would be likely to move to another company with better training opportunities for similar pay. Career opportunities are also important, and the effectiveness of training depends on connecting them to the skills employers need. When programs fail to produce visible progresswe can expect a drop in employee motivation.
What happens when training doesn’t work
Other findings from the report demonstrate the challenges when training initiatives fail. Nearly half (45%) of employers surveyed said they were considering quitting their jobs due to stress related to understaffing or workforce capacity gaps, and more than a third of employees (35%) said the same. In food and hospitality services, these numbers climbed further, reaching 57% among employers and 43% among employees.
This means that skills shortages are no longer just a problem. hiring problembut also a retention problem. This is important for employers, given that replacing a departing employee typically costs employers between 50 and 200 percent of the employee’s annual salary, depending on figures from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
This problem becomes even more pressing as AI is integrated into the workplace. Employers appear to be much better prepared than employees for this change: more than 80% say they feel confident using AI tools, compared to just 44% of employees.
Only 3% of workers believe that mastering AI is becoming essential to advancement, suggesting that many may not fully realize how important the workplace expectations change. At the same time, more than half (52%) of employees say AI is not used at all in their role, and therefore have fewer opportunities to gain hands-on experience. This makes effective training increasingly important in helping workers prepare for changing jobs.
How training can better fill skills gaps
The report highlights a workforce caught between two priorities. When asked which skills were most important in the workplace, employers prioritized AI and automation skills, as well as digital and IT capabilities. Employees, on the other hand, placed more importance on leadership, communication and teamwork. general skills which have traditionally opened the door to higher positions. In other words, while employers are primarily concerned with filling current operational skills gaps, employees are more focused on career advancement and the future.
Both concerns are legitimate. The problem is that many training programs seem to only address one side of the equation. Employers need workers equipped with practical skills for their current rolesincluding AI, but for training to be truly effective, employees must also see how these efforts relate to career advancement, greater responsibility and better pay.
Without this link, workers could continue to receive training without seeing significant progress in their careers, while employers would continue to invest massively without closing skills the gaps they are trying to fill.
