- The significant skills shortage has more than tripled since last year
- Workers lack even basic digital skills and abilities
- Four out of five London businesses are increasing investment in training
In a survey of more than 2,000 London business leaders, one in two believe their workforce currently lacks the skills required to meet their AI adoption needs.
While this is down from 63% last year, it still leaves half of businesses struggling to keep up with AI.
However, the proportion of companies reporting significant skills shortages rose to 15% this year compared to just 4% last year, meaning even basic education is not being catered for.
The shortage of AI skills is growing
According to BusinessLDN, this is the highest level recorded since the annual survey began. But in addition to significant skills shortages, more than a third (35%) also warned they face moderate shortages.
Aside from AI, 60% also noted a lack of advanced digital skills, and 23% shared a lack of even the most basic digital skills, but while companies don’t have the human capacity to develop AI strategies at this point, three out of four have gone down the road regardless.
“While London businesses are embracing AI, many are finding it challenging to stay on top of their workforce skills needs given the pace of change,” Policy Delivery Director for People and Skills Mark Hilton wrote (via BBC).
However, it is precisely this lack of digital and AI skills that could create jobs in the short term, as four in five (83%) companies revealed they had vacancies – a counter-narrative to several reports claiming AI is replacing entry-level roles. Supporting it, three-quarters (76%) do not expect to reduce headcount, suggesting we may finally have reached a balance after previous mass redundancies.
But while countless studies reveal that companies are not supporting their employees with the right upskilling schemes, London appears to be doing things differently with 81% planning to increase investment in training over the next year.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds.
