Workday, Inc.'s report titled The Global State of Skills reveals that over half (60%) of business leaders in Hong Kong are worried about future talent shortages, and only 28% are confident their organisation has the skills needed for long-term success.
Notably, 74% of organisations in Hong Kong are taking a proactive approach, with high visibility into their existing people's capabilities, surpassing the global average of 54%.
Skills-based talent management
The study also revealed that most (91%) leaders in Hong Kong believe in adopting a skills-based approach to drive economic growth by improving productivity, innovation, and organisational agility. 57% of Hong Kong organisations have begun transitioning to a skills-based strategy. 20% are planning to start this year.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) catalyses and enables this shift as it helps organisations build more agile, skills-driven workforces. 42% of Hong Kong leaders report that streamlining repetitive tasks is the primary benefit of using AI in a skills-based hiring strategy.
"AI is undoubtedly transforming the workplace, but it's not replacing the need for uniquely human skills – it's amplifying them," said Daniel Cham,general managerfor Workday Greater China. "We're witnessing a global shift as organisations embrace skills-based strategies, recognising that human ingenuity combined with AI's capabilities is the key to navigating the future."
Challenges to adoption
Despite shifting toward skills-based strategies, Hong Kong business leaders cite several challenges to adoption, such as the time required to reskill employees (38%), aligning skills strategy with business objectives (33%), connecting and consolidating data across systems (32%); and resistance to change (31%)
The research also finds that transitioning to a skills-based strategy requires a mindset shift, including effective change management (56%) and leadership alignment and support (44%).
