In boardrooms across North America and EMEA, CEOs and CHROs are wrestling with an uncomfortable truth: the very capabilities needed to drive future growth—technical acumen, adaptive leadership, and data-driven decision-making—are in critically short supply. Despite broad agreement that closing these skills gaps is a top business priority, most corporate upskilling efforts continue to fall painfully short.
The latest HRO Today Annual Top Concerns of CHROs report, sponsored by Hudson Talent Solutions, underscores just how severe this problem has become. In boardrooms across North America and EMEA, CEOs and CHROs are confronting a critical challenge: 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted by 2027, yet only 7% of organizations have made significant progress on strategic upskilling programs that blend soft, technical, and digital skills. This skills gap is not just an HR headache—it’s a significant business risk.
Key Failure Drivers
- Overreliance on outdated internal training
While 55% of CHROs say internal training is their primary tool for closing skills gaps, most lack robust, modern learning ecosystems to deliver on this promise. Only 41% rate their L&D capabilities as strong and just 5% say they’re “very strong” HRO Today Annual Top Concerns of CHROs. Both regions admit their L&D capabilities are largely mediocre and these poor ratings highlight a major performance gap.
- HR teams under strain
Making matters worse, HR teams themselves are facing acute strain with 38% of North American and 52% of EMEA HR functions reporting burnout, jeopardizing their ability to support upskilling effectively. When the very teams tasked with driving upskilling are exhausted, meaningful progress stalls.
- Misalignment with business strategy & budgets
Securing investment is tough. This misalignment shows up in funding: 25% of North America and 55% of EMEA HR leaders say obtaining budget for HR technology (including learning systems) as a major hurdle for HR tech and learning is a top concern. That’s a red flag when 44% of core employee skills are already at risk (Hudson Talent Solutions). Too often, upskilling remains siloed within HR, disconnected from core business objectives. The HRO Today data shows only 41% rate their training capability as strong—yet the most common approach to close skills gaps is still internal training.Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum warns that 44% of workers’ core skills will be disrupted within five years, but only half of employees currently have adequate access to training. If upskilling isn’t explicitly tied to the capabilities your organization needs to compete with, such as faster product development cycles, superior customer experiences, or new market entry, it will never receive the investment or executive sponsorship it requires.
- Leadership Blind Spots and Operational Headwinds
No learning initiative can succeed without effective leadership. Yet over 52% of global HR leaders say they remain concerned about leader and manager effectiveness, with concerns notably higher in EMEA (59%) than North America (48%) (HRO Today). This matters immensely. During economic uncertainty, whether from inflation, geopolitical tensions, or looming recessions, managers need to lead teams through change with confidence.Unfortunately, many aren’t prepared. In the UK, a staggering 82% of managers are “accidental managers,” promoted without formal training, resulting in inefficiencies and often toxic cultures and in the US fewer than 41% of managerial jobs ask for management skills as a requirement. Without leadership that champions upskilling and models continuous learning, most initiatives will remain at the surface level. Without equipping leaders to champion upskilling and continuous learning, most initiatives struggle to gain traction.
- Technology outpacing people transformation
AI’s rapid rise has only sharpened the divide. HR’s use of AI surged from 40% to 65% in one year, yet only 41% of North American and 53% of EMEA leaders feel prepared to lead in this AI-driven future (Hudson Talent Solutions). Nearly 45% of HR leaders globally now say AI will be the biggest disruptor to HR in the next two to three years, yet most organizations lack complementary strategies to prepare employees for these shifts (Gartner).
This technology-first transformation without a people-first roadmap is widening critical gaps in readiness.
Why Leadership Readiness is Your Linchpin
In Hudson’s blog The AI Effect: Is Your Leadership Ready for What’s Next?, we emphasize that nearly 45% of senior HR leaders see AI as the biggest disruptor to HR in the next 2–3 years, yet readiness remains low at only 41% in North America, 53% in EMEA (Hudson Talent Solutions). That means even as organizations aggressively adopt AI, many leaders aren’t equipped to guide their teams through this transition.
What High-Performers Do Differently
At Hudson Talent Solutions we take a different approach to treat upskilling as a strategic asset linked to business outcomes:
- Align skills development with strategic goals
Determine which skills matter most for growth, innovation, or market expansion and build training around those priorities. - Invest in modern, adaptive learning ecosystems
Use microlearning, peer learning, and AI-powered personalization to boost relevance and engagement. - Retaining employees who have been upskilled, knowing that clear pathways for development drive engagement and reduce turnover (HRO Today).
- Equip managers as learning champions
Tie leadership effectiveness to their ability to develop talent and support team members. - Secure executive sponsorship and protected budgets
Treat upskilling as a business investment, not discretionary HR expenditure. - Measure impact using business KPIs
Connect learning outcomes to time-to-market improvements, innovation velocity, retention rates, and customer satisfaction.
Interestingly, North American firms rank retention first, while in EMEA, the priority is enabling employees to learn future-critical skills, highlighting regional differences but a shared strategic urgency.
The Hudson Perspective: Build a Business-Aligned Skills Roadmap
At Hudson Talent Solutions, we see the same pattern across clients worldwide: organizations that successfully close skills gaps don’t treat upskilling as an HR project. They make it a board-level business strategy tied directly to revenue, market differentiation, and customer impact.
If your upskilling initiatives aren’t tied to clear business objectives, they’re not preparing your workforce for disruption—they’re creating a liability. By integrating strategic workforce insights, like those powering Hudson’s TalentIQ platform, leadership development, and RPO services, you can turn upskilling into a powerful competitive advantage.
Now is the time to build a business-aligned skills roadmap that protects your bottom line and ensures your workforce is ready to lead, adapt, and outperform in the markets ahead.
Hudson Talent Solutions offers support in designing and implementing data-driven, business-aligned skills roadmaps. Whether accelerating AI literacy among your leadership or rolling out scalable micro-learning for frontline employees, we can help you upskill your existing workforce that’s ready for tomorrow.
