AI and cybersecurity are driving enterprise tech investments and at the same time exposing the talent gaps that IT teams face.
According to Skillsoft’s 2024 IT Skills and Salary Report, IT leaders are planning to invest in AI and machine learning in 2025 while also aiming to bring more AI/ML skills in house and recruit hard-to-find cybersecurity talent.
“As AI technologies are further embedded into workplace operations and the demand for cybersecurity talent and leadership skills intensifies, it is more important than ever that organizations adopt a proactive approach to skill-building,” said Orla Daly, CIO at Skillsoft, in a statement.
Skillsoft surveyed some 5,100 global IT decision-makers and professionals to learn more about the technologies they plan to invest in as well as the areas in which they are challenged to find skilled workers. In terms of investment priorities for 2025, the top technology areas global IT decision-makers plan to put budget dollars toward are:
- AI and ML: 47%
- Cybersecurity, information security: 42%
- Cloud computing: 36%
- Infrastructure and systems: 33%
- Leadership skills: 28%
- Data analytics, data management, data science: 25%
- Governance, risk and compliance: 25%
- Project management: 22%
- Virtualization: 18%
- Networking and wireless LAN: 18%
“While 2023 was a year of hurry up and unleash AI, 2024 is the year where decision-makers are taking a step back to see how they can implement AI strategically and thoughtfully to align with company and societal expectations,” the Skillsoft report states. “2024 gave leaders the opportunity to pause, take a breath and see what kind of investment they need to make for best use scenarios in terms of talent and technology.”
As new technologies emerge, IT decision-makers must also assess the skills they have in-house to make the most of the innovative tools. In this study, Skillsoft found that 19% of respondents believe there is a “high risk of organizational objectives not being met due to skills gaps.” According to Skillsoft, 65% of respondents said they continue to face skill gaps on their teams, with over half (56%) anticipating them to persist over the next one to two years.
When asked which technology areas represent the greatest difficulty for hiring talent, respondents identified the following:
- Cybersecurity, information security: 38%
- Technical support: 22%
- Cloud computing: 22%
- Analytics, big data, data science: 22%
- AI and ML: 20%
- Governance, risk and compliance: 17%
- Networking and wireless: 16%
- Leadership and management: 15%
- Systems and solution architects: 15%
- Systems engineering: 15%
Among the causes for the lack of skills across technology expertise is the fast pace of technology, according to 37% of respondents. Still 43% of those surveyed pointed to the struggle they face to hire candidates with the skills they need. Other reasons included a lack of investment in training (34%), the challenge of retaining employees (31%), and the inability to pay what candidates demand (30%). Respondents also cited ineffective training programs (22%) and not being able to full anticipate the skills they would need (20%).
Skillsoft’s 2024 IT Skills and Salary Survey was conducted online from May to September 2024 using the Qualtrics XM Platform.
Source:: Network World