As generative artificial intelligence breaks into more and more sectors and industries companies are finding it challenging to find talent to ensure their workforce remains competitive in a world of work that could be AI-driven.
A report commissioned by technology skills training firm General Assembly highlights that new approaches are needed to identify, train and hire qualified talent in this area.
The work, conducted by research firm Wakefield Research, obtained information from more than a thousand HR managers who are hiring for software engineering, data analytics and user experience roles. Among them are representatives from Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, Indeed and Humana.
The survey focused on these departments' preferred solutions and their challenges in keeping up with the growing demand for workers capable of leveraging AI tools.
"Hiring for many types of jobs and in many industries is incredibly challenging: the process takes too long. However, AI is enabling significant improvements to make the process simpler and faster," highlights Hannah Calhoon , Indeed's Director of AI Innovation.
"To ensure that employees can experience the benefits of AI once they get a job, it is more important than ever to adopt new approaches to upskilling and reskilling. This will enable workers at any level and from a wide range of professional backgrounds to successfully adapt to AI-driven technologies and changes that will affect all industries," she adds.
Key findings
The survey has yielded some interesting findings. The first of these comes as no surprise: AI-related skills are in extremely high demand. Sixty-nine percent of HR managers said it is more difficult to hire people with the right AI skills than it is to hire for traditionally hard-to-find roles in data analytics, data science, software engineering and UX design.
On the other hand, the report reveals that companies must increasingly pay more to acquire the tech talent they are looking for. Thus, two out of three respondents would be willing to pay the salary figure demanded by candidates.
Also, more than half (52%) would be investing at least $10,000 to fill positions that require artificial intelligence skills.
To make matters worse, organizations are using other alternatives to find and hire talent and acting a bit 'out of the box' to fill the vacancies they need with AI skills. Some 53% have reduced traditional educational requirements for their open positions and 52% are hiring additional HR staff to acquire this kind of talent.
"Companies are entering a new era, one that requires their workforce to not only master the AI tools available in the market today, but also to respond nimbly to the rapid evolution of generative AI," comments Gretchen Jacobi , Head of Enterprise at General Assembly.
"Staying current and ahead of the curve requires new and adaptive methods for hiring, retaining and training workers. The organizations that succeed in this changing world of work will be the ones that harness the potential of new approaches to training and talent development to navigate the AI era," she adds.
