How Upskilling Can Recession-proof Your Company

As a potential recession looms, are you doing all you can to protect your company from the one-two punch of rising labor costs and decreasing margins? If you’re thinking of bringing on new talent instead of preparing your current employees to climb the corporate ladder, then the answer is a resounding no. When it comes to protecting your bottom line, employee retention is paramount and upskilling is a huge part of that.  

Upskilling, as discussed in our post defining why it is so essential this year, is simply the investment made in your current workforce allowing your employees to learn and gain new skills to see their careers grow at your company. Not only does upskilling help to avoid expenses, but it also improves productivity, boosts morale, and builds loyalty within your company.  

To effectively gain this loyalty, you must embrace upskilling by offering your existing employees training opportunities that help them build their careers. While extending those opportunities comes with some costs, the returns will undoubtedly come your way. Having effective upskilling programs in place comes in handy especially when there are workforce shortages, and you have to rely on your existing workforce to pick up technical or challenging work from roles that go unfilled.

In a poll created by getAbstract, it was revealed that a stunning 93% of Millennial and Gen Z workers expect their employers to provide on-the-job training. And Millennials are set to dominate the workforce by 2030 with their Gen Z cohorts falling close behind. Fortunately, the Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum reports that employers will likely end up extending upskilling opportunities to more than 70% of their workforce by 2025.  

If you’re not already going in that direction, plan to adjust your approach soon to keep up with the changing demands of the labor market. Otherwise, not being prepared to make upskilling a top priority could cost you the chance to recession-proof your firm.  

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