Training is considered one of the main pillars to maintain employability and improve professional performance, as well as to boost the competitiveness of companies. However, the labor market experiences a gap between the relevance given to it and real access to it: according to Infojobs, 40% of Spanish professionals have not received any type of training in the last year.
The employment platform has analyzed the situation of vocational training through an online survey of 1,025 workers between 18 and 65 years old. The analysis shows the difference that exists both in the training offer and in the skills considered relevant for the current moment.
Workers consider communication or teamwork as the most important skills
The training gap
The data indicates that workers understand personal skills, such as communication or teamwork, and position-specific technical skills as the most important. Specifically, three out of every five respondents place them in first and second place – both with an average rating of 7.1 –, followed by digital skills. The latter are especially valued by those who telework, women and ICT profiles.
But, paradoxically, the most valued skills are left behind in terms of training. Technical skills receive the most instruction (32%), ahead of general digital skills (20%) and personal skills (18%). In last position in the ranking of effective training are management and leadership skills (12%), to which professionals give an average rating of 6.4.
The comparison between relevance and reality reveals a significant gap in personal skills, which register a distance of 47 percentage points between their importance and the training received; as well as in management and leadership skills, where the difference reaches 39 percentage points. For their part, position-specific technical and digital skills also present gaps, although slightly smaller.
Furthermore, if those who consider training as essential (they rate it 9 and 10) are attended to and are accessing it, less than a third of professionals are receiving it. The distance is only attenuated in the case of position-specific technical skills, which reach 43% of effective training among those who consider it key. Leadership, for its part, is found in 1 in 5 professionals.
As explained by Infojobs in a statement, middle managers are the ones who receive the most training in almost all areas, and men have greater access to management and team leadership skills. This reflects a historical trend towards the assignment of managerial roles, despite the fact that these skills are especially valued by women.
Training, a joint task
On the other hand, the platform has also analyzed the perception of responsibility regarding training and updating of skills. 45% of the professionals surveyed consider that this is a question of co-responsibility, and therefore, the task falls on both the company and the employee. On the other hand, 34% attribute it to the worker and 21% to the organization.
However, the idea changes depending on the profile. Women and hybrid workers tend to view training as a shared responsibility; while management, management or board of directors profiles are more inclined to point out that it is a matter of the individual. This, as Infojobs explains, can condition investment in training within organizations.
According to the platform’s analysis, self-training also does not compensate for the lack of access to structured training. More than half of those who have received instruction have dedicated less than 10 hours of their free time, while almost a quarter say they do not invest personal time in their development, especially among those over 35 years of age.
In this context, artificial intelligence and languages are presented as the exception, since they stand out as two of the skills with the greatest dedication (16% in both cases). Management and leadership is also an area in which to train on your own.
The data also indicate that economic investment in training remains low. Only 23% of workers who have received training have invested money in it, compared to 77% who have not made any disbursement. Specifically, 37% of those who invest dedicate between 50 and 199 euros to training, and 32% exceed 500 euros.
This is why Infojobs warns of the disconnection between the importance that professionals attach to training and the real opportunities to develop it. “Particularly worrying is the case of personal and leadership skills, which are key to professional evolution and, however, are the ones that present the greatest deficiencies.“explains Mónica Pérez, director of Communication and Studies at InfoJobs, in a statement. “Committing to training more aligned with these needs will be essential to improve the employability and competitiveness of organizations.”.
