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Three Ways to Bridge
the Digital Skills Gap
President of Services and Digital at Dell Technologies
Howard Elias shares his insights on addressing the digital
skills shortage.
BY HOWARD ELIAS
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The worldwide skilled labor shortage is
predicted to reach 4.3 million workers and
roughly $450 billion in unrealized output
by 2030, according to a recent study
by consulting firm Korn Ferry—and that’s in the
technology, media, and telecommunications sector
alone. In reality, the technology skills shortage
is an issue that spans industries, as companies
everywhere digitally transform to prepare for a
data-driven future.
Addressing the challenge requires rethinking
how we find, keep, and evolve talent for the
workforce of the future. Here are just a few ways
businesses can start bridging the gap today:
1. Find a bigger skills pond.
Business leaders need to identify new sources of
talent fast. It’s time to dive into the sea of talent
traditionally underrepresented in tech, including
women, minorities, and differently abled groups,
among others. One example of how Dell Technologies
is doing this is our hiring program for people with
autism. To better recruit these talented candidates,
we replaced the traditional interview process with
a two-week assessment followed by a 12-week
internship with job coaching for selected candidates.
2. Check your bias.
Beyond hiring, companies need to make diverse
workers feel comfortable bringing their authentic,
best selves to work every day. Standing in the way of
a truly inclusive workplace is the fundamental issue
of human biases—conscious and unconscious—that
affect how we interact with others around us. Some
organizations are turning to emerging technologies
to tackle this issue head on. For instance, Equal
Reality uses virtual reality to help people experience
life from the point of view of someone of a different
gender, race, or ability level.
3. Reskill today’s talent.
As we prepare for the future, it’s imperative
we bring our current workforce along with us.
Effective reskilling programs are a must—and
in high demand by anxious workers. A recent
study from the Capgemini Digital Transformation
Institute and LinkedIn found that 38 percent of
employees believe their skill set is redundant now
or will be within the next four to five years.
There is no shortage of capable people to
fill the talent needs of the future if we work
together to open doors of opportunity around
the world. ■