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EY Upskilling Survey Romania 2024
In today's context, the labor market is shaped by a complex mix of socio-economic and technological forces, driving swift and ongoing transformation. It is estimated that over the next five years, 23% of existing jobs will undergo significant changes, affecting both developed and under-developed economies. Around 60% of employees will need training or reskilling by 2027, but currently, only half have access to such opportunities.
In Romania, the level of digital skills remains low, with only 28% of Romanians possessing basic digital knowledge, compared to much higher rates in other European countries (Eurostat, 2023).
Simultaneously, employee expectations of their employers have evolved, influenced by new experiences encountered during the pandemic and emerging global market trends. Workplace flexibility, work-life balance, along with the possibility of remote or part-time work, have become essential criteria.
Additionally, employees are increasingly interested in personal and professional development opportunities, particularly in acquiring technical and soft skills necessary to adapt to new economic realities.
Thus, upskilling/reskilling programs are crucial both on a macroeconomic level, due to their impact on a country's competitiveness, and on a microeconomic level, due to their contribution to companies' productivity.
The development of these programs is a key element in meeting employees' demands and supporting the rapid transformations in the labor market, especially given the importance of technical and digital skills, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence.
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Chapter 1
The Motivation
Upskilling/Reskilling programs for personal development
94% of the survey respondents believe upskilling, including reskilling, to be central to keeping up with the requirements of today’s labor market.
However, only 65% think that upskilling/reskilling programs offer straightforward applicability in their current roles.
At an average score of 4.6 out of 5, personal development is the main motivation behind attending reskilling and upskilling programs. 7 out of 10 responses assigned a maximum score to personal development, with 84% of the respondents in the financial services sector awarding a maximum score to personal development, which could perhaps be explained by the particularities of this category of employees, who tend to possess a higher education level and have an acquired appetite for lifelong development.
The second most cited driver for attending professional development programs is career advancement. When corroborating our data with the WEF data, a contradictory situation stands out with regards to non-managerial employees: while there are those who would have most to gain from development programs to advance their careers, 64% of the non-managerial employees claim that development programs mostly focus on the management staff.
The third most important driver is the desire to change careers – the very raison d'être for reskilling programs. In this respect, 48% of the surveyed employees say they are tempted by this prospect, which, even though ranked third, is still extremely high in absolute terms. It is also of note that almost two thirds (65%) of the employees in the financial sector wish to improve their range of skills in order to be ready to pursue another professional path.
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Chapter 2
The target destination and present level of knowledge
Programs for developing critical thinking and leadership are at the top of the importance rankings.
Digital skills are most central when it comes to development programs and were ranked as such by 51% of the respondents, with a notable prevalence among professional services specialists.
With the new demands to automate and streamline processes and, concurrently, to quickly adapt to the latest technologies, digital skills have become more of a sine qua non requirement rather than a differentiator or a tool for growth among employees working in the professional services sector.
Critical thinking and innovation rank second among the most desired upskilling/reskilling programs, cited by 45% of the respondents, with a special propensity in the tech sector.
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Chapter 3
Existing programs
Digital skills are the most frequently offered upskilling programs
Digital skills, soft skills and project management are the most often offered training programs, with this outcome being further boosted by the numbers seen in major companies.
Almost half (47%) of our respondents confirmed the existence of digital upskilling programs within their companies. This percentage is even higher in the professional services sector – 59%.
However, although it was seen as being highly important ranking second among the most relevant skills, critical thinking training is one of the least encountered subjects amongst the upskilling programs provided by employers. Assessing the current upskilling programs compared to their individual relevance score, critical thinking training registers the greatest gap between its theoretical value and actual availability. While 45% of the respondents recognized its relevance as a skill, only 20% of the respondents have received critical thinking training.
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Chapter 4
Artificial Intelligence
AI is perceived as a competitive advantage in today’s labor market
The importance of learning how to manage Artificial Intelligence (AI) is widely acknowledged by professionals in various industries, with 85% of the respondents saying that each professional should acquire AI knowledge, regardless of their sector.
Acquiring AI skills is therefore perceived as a competitive advantage in the labor market, as 72% of the respondents believe that these skills will improve their prospects to find or change jobs. There are relevant variations among industries: only 59% of the respondents in the manufacturing industry share that opinion.
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Chapter 5
The responsibility and governance of learning
Perspectives on who holds responsibility for these programs vary
According to the data collected, the opinions on who is responsible for these programs vary from one reviewed industry to another. Not surprisingly, most of the respondents (57%) believe that the Human Resources Department should be the main owner of these initiatives, given its expertise in identifying training needs and in managing professional development processes.
At the same time, half of the respondents say that the management team should play a central role in coordinating these programs. This opinion is even more prevalent in the IT sector, where 62% of the employees would prefer for the management to be directly involved in training the key skills.
However, in the professional services sector, 43% of the employees believe that professional development ownership should belong to themselves, therefore underlining a tendency towards the self-management of learning, while across all sectors this self-ownership of learning was reported on the average by 35% of the respondents.