HR thinks you can learn AI skills – so why is your company hiring elsewhere?

A recent study by Careerminds reveals that while 92% of HR professionals and 88% of managers believe employees can be trained for AI-related roles, many companies are instead opting to hire externally. This has led to 51% of HR professionals and 47% of managers reporting that their organizations are hiring externally for new AI positions, as opposed to only 42% who are redploying existing employees.

The research, conducted in partnership with Censuswide, surveyed 595 US HR professionals and 547 US people managers working at organizations with 500-10,000 or more employees. Despite the fact that 51% of workers use AI regularly, only a minority have the opportunity to upskill. While businesses are seeing the return on investment in AI, 62% are struggling with the storage demands.

The study highlights that reskilling, particularly for AI, is challenging to track due to limited visibility into individual skill sets. Pearson's acquisition of Workera, an AI-native skills platform used by organizations like ServiceNow and Accenture, is not the first time that skill development management for AI has been discussed.

The white paper also points out significant differences in how various industries are responding to AI-related workforce needs. The technology and telecom industries see external hiring outweigh redeployment by 15%, while media and entertainment is the only sector where redeployment is at least as common as external hiring, with 56% of HR professionals in that industry reporting redeployment.