National Survey Finds Half of U.S. Workers Worried about Gaining Needed Skills

Survey suggests that the upskilling opportunities employers are offering may not be enough to close the skills gap

Strategic Education, Inc., an education company serving working adult students, released its annual survey of working Americans, which found that half of employees surveyed were worried about getting the skills they need to advance in their career, despite 74% receiving upskilling opportunities from their employer. The national survey of 2,005 U.S.-based, full-time employees sought to understand how employees perceive their own skills gaps—the gap between the skills that a job or industry requires and the skills that employees have.

The survey also found that more than 8 in 10 full-time employees in the U.S. know what skills are needed to advance in their current job. For example, according to the survey, nearly half of the respondents feel they could improve their technology skills to advance in their job. Among employees whose employer provides upskilling opportunities, 85% currently or have previously taken advantage of them – indicating there is an appetite to learn.

“We can see that employers are offering upskilling opportunities and that employees are taking advantage of them, yet there is still concern about gaining the skills needed to advance their careers,” said Karl McDonnell, CEO of Strategic Education. “These findings suggest that the upskilling opportunities employers are offering may not be enough – or the right ones – to close the skills gap.”

Taking a closer look specifically at the types of skill advancement options offered, the most frequently reported upskilling opportunity provided or supported by full-time workers’ current employers was in-house trainings (53%). Less than a third of employees receive tuition benefits from their employer.

Additional findings include:

• A rising expectation among employees that their employer invests in their education.

• 91% of employees believe employers should invest in their continued education.
• The expectation that employers should be investing in employees’ continued education has grown 8 percentage points in the last 2 years, up from 83% in 2022 and 87% in 2023.

• Many employees say that upskilling opportunities increase their motivation at work.

• 93% of employees say learning new skills keeps them motivated at work.
• Nearly half of employees say they are motivated to stay with an employer that supports continued education or the opportunities to cross-train/explore other areas of interest at work.

“Both employees and employers recognize the need for upskilling. The question we should be asking now is, how should employers invest in employee education to help them build the skills needed for their own success while contributing to the success of the organization? In-house trainings, which we found to be most common, may not be enough to move the needle,” said McDonnell. “Giving employees more options and autonomy by offering a more strategic education benefits program could yield a higher return on an organization’s upskilling and reskilling investment.”

Strategic Education, Inc. commissioned Atomik Research to conduct an online survey of 2,005 adults throughout the United States. The sample consists of full-time workers, ages 18-55. The margin of error is +/- 2 percentage points with a confidence level of 95 percent. Fieldwork took place between May 6 and May 11, 2024.

To read the full results, visit: www.UpskillingSurvey.com

About Strategic Education, Inc.

Strategic Education, Inc. (NASDAQ: STRA) ( www.strategiceducation.com ) is dedicated to helping advance economic mobility through higher education. We primarily serve working adult students globally through our core focus areas: 1) U.S. Higher Education, including Capella University and Strayer University, each institutionally accredited, and collectively offer flexible and affordable associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs including the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University, and non-degree web and mobile application development courses through Strayer University’s Hackbright Academy and Devmountain; 2) Education Technology Services, developing and maintaining relationships with employers to build education benefits programs providing employees access to affordable and industry-relevant training, certificate, and degree programs, including through Workforce Edge, a full-service education benefits administration solution for employers, and Sophia Learning, which offers low-cost online general education-level courses that are ACE-recommended for college credit; and 3) Australia/New Zealand, comprised of Torrens University, Think Education, and Media Design School that collectively offer certificate and degree programs in Australia and New Zealand. This portfolio of high quality, innovative, relevant, and affordable programs and institutions helps our students prepare for success in today’s workforce and find a path to bettering their lives.

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