The skills squeeze: staying ahead in Scotland’s changing talent landscape

Businesses in Scotland are facing a dual challenge: the demand for new skills is rising, but the talent pool is shrinking. To stay competitive and become more resilient, the ability to attract, develop, and retain the most important resource any company has is a defining advantage. 

The squeeze on workplace skills is a global issue. Korn Ferry forecasts that by 2030, more than 85 million jobs could go unfilled (a number greater than the population of Germany), costing businesses $8.5 trillion USD in lost annual revenues. Companies that respond now will be best placed to engage both with the talent they have, and the talent they need to attract. 

Our Workplace Innovation Support service can help you with this, and more, guiding your business to unlock your staff’s potential and increase productivity. 

Here are five actions businesses can take, right now, to navigate this moment of transformation in the skills landscape, as the global talent crunch threatens to increase costs and reduce innovation.

Understand both sides of the skills challenge 

“The skills shortage and the labour shortage are two quite separate issues,” explains Helen Noble , our Team Leader for Workplace Innovation. “Leaders and companies need to employ different strategies to address them. With regard to the labour shortage, think about how you can bring more people into the workforce. Do you have a strategy to engage with those removed from the job market?  

“There is a great deal of hidden talent out there – those returning from career breaks, illness, or seeking a career change following military service. The long-term unemployed, those with a caring responsibility – can you think inclusively and creatively to attract these people and then ensure they are at their best at work?  

“Also, businesses need to ensure their people have the right skills as their sector evolves. How do you keep skills in your workplace as your workforce ages? Leaders will need an open mindset to be proactive about the skills they’ll require in the future, and redesign job roles while embracing flexible working options.” 

Upskill your (multi-generational) workforce 

This concept of reskilling in the face of technological advances is nothing new, but it requires a sharper focus these days. “I don’t see the future being about technology replacing people, it’s about reskilling them and helping people to work alongside technology,” says Dr Gary Kildare, Non-Executive Director for the UK Government Insolvency Service and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and a former Chief HR Officer for IBM. 

As a member of our GlobalScot Network, Gary’s expertise in human resources and technology gives him unique insight into changing people’s skill sets. “How can we create upskilling pathways, and how can we enable change to help people learn and grow new and different skill sets across the career stages?” he asks. “Upskilling is not about adding more hours to everyone’s day, it’s about encouraging ourselves to use technology to be smarter. 

“Companies should be looking at using AI to augment human talent, not replace it. Businesses should prioritise the retention of experience – with client relationships, advice, consultancy, coaching, and mentoring viewed as high value. And the combination of people and technology can make the workforce more inclusive for everyone in your organisation.” 

Pay close attention to your employer value proposition 

The values your company lives by and demonstrates to the world are sometimes termed the employer value proposition (EVP). How your brand markets itself, and how you talk to your audience and customers, can affect potential applicants’ perceptions of what it would be like to work for you. 

As Helen says: “If you're not putting yourself out there with a really strong EVP that resonates with people that have the skills you need, you're going to find it very hard to recruit people. It will become much more difficult to remain competitive, and will show the world that you’re not looking at some of the issues other employers are. 

“Today’s workforce, especially younger generations, is highly selective. They want meaningful work, aligned values, and inclusive workplaces. If your EVP doesn’t reflect that, they will look elsewhere. And as the skills squeeze continues to contract, it will become even more of a buyers’ market.” 

Reimagine roles and rethink workplaces 

GlobalScot Adam McGonigal is the CEO of Airbus Beyond. He steers complex global operations with a focus on delivering tangible business impact. “Although technology is here to stay, and will take up increasing space in the way we work, we won’t move away from the fundamental building blocks of productive people,” he says. 

“Alongside skills and experience, knowledge and behaviours will remain the most important thing. Technology can give a real boost to skills, but knowledge and behaviours require time from organisations. Even more than in the past, we need to shift how we share knowledge as technology moves forwards.” 

Helen agrees: “AI is going to change jobs and change how you do things, and hopefully for individuals it will make their job more interesting and move them up the value chain. But it's not going to take away the need for people, and leaders should be thinking about how they can support their workforces to embrace that as an opportunity.” 

Don’t fear turnover — embrace the career lattice 

One of the greatest truths every company learns is that talented employees will move on. “The most valuable employees are the ones who are thinking on a personal level about the skills they need to remain relevant,” says Gary. “Those people may end up having two to five careers, and they may even return to university several times to learn new skills to keep them contributing. Businesses and academia really need to think about planning for that.” 

Or, as Helen puts it, “Very few people come and stay in the same company for 30 years now. You aren’t looking at career ladders anymore, these are career lattices. But those workers can become your greatest advocates in terms of your incoming skills supply. 

“If you can’t fulfil an individual’s career aspirations, don’t worry. Give them great training, treat them well, and when they get another opportunity, they will say good things about you. Bring in someone with fresh skills and have the previous employee share your values with the wider job market.” 

Want to build a future-ready team? 

Scotland’s working age population is forecast to peak in 2027 and slowly shrink thereafter. To unlock growth and equip your people for tomorrow, our Leadership Academy helps Scottish business leaders boost ambition and motivate change.  

So far, our team has supported more than 6,000 individuals with a wide range of events, webinars, courses, and workshop sessions. Visit our Leadership Academy today to view our programme and start your tailored journey to getting the most out of your team. If you've got any questions, you can contact our team directly by completing our online enquiry form. 

Also, if you would like to access insight from business leaders around the world, our international community of GlobalScots can support your next move. Achieving your business ambitions is easier with the right contacts, and if you have ambitions to grow and trade internationally, our GlobalScots can help.