The global pandemic has pushed the pace of change within workplaces into overdrive and has heightened anxieties about how to prepare for the future of work. Released today, Deloitte‘s Future ready workforce report focuses on how organizations can unleash workers’ potential by equipping them with the skills and enduring capabilities needed to flex, stretch, and evolve to meet challenges now and in the future.

Front and centre in the findings is that traditional training, like post-secondary education, is no longer sufficient to meet the pace of change in today’s workplaces. To stay current, employers need to constantly be investing in upskilling and reskilling their people or risk falling behind their competition. This means prioritizing learning that’s immediately applicable and available in real time, when and where it’s needed. And while many employers recognize this reality, few are acting on it.

According to a recent Deloitte survey, three-quarters (74%) of organizations say reskilling their workforce is important or very important to their success over the next 12–18 months. While just over half (53%) say that between half to all their workforce will need to change their skills and capabilities in the next three years. Companies and workers alike recognize that work will never be the same again, and that continually upgrading skills and capabilities is essential.

Organizations will bear the responsibility for upgrading the skills and capabilities of their workers. In fact, 73% of survey respondents feel organizations are primarily responsible for workforce development. However, too many organizations don’t know how or where to start and feel ill-equipped to reimagine the skills needed to meet the business’s future needs. Only 17% of organizations believe they’re able to anticipate the skills their workforce will require to any great extent, and only 16% expect to make significant investments in learning over the next three years.