THREE in five employees around the world find it hard to upskill their current jobs after the Covid-19 pandemic hit last year, a global recruitment agency’s survey shows.

The Randstad Workmonitor 2020 2H report found that 61% of respondents struggling to acquire new skills to suit the current pandemic era of doing business.

The ones most opposed to change are younger workers between 18 and 24 years old at 69%, while older respondents aged 55-67 are more positive to change with 49% willing to upskill.

“The rapid digital transformation we experienced in 2020 has driven the demand for professionals equipped with transferable technical knowledge, soft skills and adaptability in the new environment.

“The opportunity to learn the stakeholder management and leadership skills, new systems as well as resource planning is critical to career development of younger workers,” the report said.

The survey was conducted in October across 34 markets around the world with 400 respondents each.

It also found 91% of the respondents regularly refreshing their competencies and skills to increase their employability in the current circumstances.

Almost 70% believe that if they remain unskilled, it would be hard for employers to hire them for jobs which require technical skills which have changed since Covid-19 hit.

“Employers have high expectations of their candidates, as they want to invest in someone who is digitally adept, agile and innovative, independent yet collaborative.

“Employees should keep pace with industry trends and upskill themselves to meet new skill requirements for the future of work.”

One in three employees also swapped jobs between April and October last year where 39% stated they were looking for greener pastures, followed by 32% looking for better employers and 29% because of personal circumstances amid the pandemic.

Locally, 15% of the respondents surveyed in October alone feared job loss in the uncertain economic conditions which resulted from the government imposing the movement-control order (MCO). – February 4, 2021.