Firms turn to ‘quiet hiring’ to fill skills gaps
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — Facing imminent skills shortages, companies increasingly look within their own workforces to reskill employees and fill emerging skill gaps, rather than exclusively hiring external candidates.
This talent strategy, called “quiet hiring” by Emily Rose McRae of Gartner, aims to mitigate the challenges of a tight labor market by leveraging internal talent pools.
“Successful organizations will be those that look not just out to the recruitment market, but also among their own ranks,” said Sander van ‘t Noordende of Randstad.
Examples of this practice include Ogilvy UK’s peer learning programs and Accenture‘s extensive training initiatives in artificial intelligence (AI) for over 800,000 of its workforce.
In the technology sector, 16% of senior executives see ‘quiet hiring’ as a strategy in the midst of tech talent shortages, while 51% are open to using generative AI, according to a survey by talent platform Gigged.AI and Sapio Research.
However, despite these efforts, concerns persist regarding the overall investment in employee reskilling.
“Many private firms rely on their ability to buy in talent rather than thinking about building that internally,” said Lizzie Crowley, senior skills policy adviser at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development.
“[They] don’t have a strategic approach in the short term let alone long term.”
