Responding to the global skills crisis

Purpose An IBM survey of business, government and education leaders concluded that if left unresolved, an emerging global skills crisis will likely have profound effects on businesses and economies worldwide. Design/methodology/approach To gauge current skills challenges and assess future needs, the IBM Institute for Business Value in cooperation with Oxford Economics surveyed more than 5,600 global executives representing 18 industries and 48 countries Findings Fifty-five percent of all executives surveyed conclude that inadequate investment from private industry is the most important challenge to overcome in addressing skills development in the future. Practical implications Personalized learning, powered by data-driven cognitive technologies, can enable personalized education – allowing individuals to readily take more responsibility over their skills future and improve outcomes for stakeholders across the business ecosystem. Originality/value Sixty-nine percent of industry executives from outperforming companies…indicate their organizations are already collaborating with ecosystem partners to address skills-related issues, as opposed to less than half of lower performing businesses.