Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
CONTENTS
Contributors 4
Introduction 5
Executive Summary 7
Methodology 26
2
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
CONTRIBUTORS
Dasha Karzunina
Dasha is the Markets Insights Manager at QS, combining a public-facing role with
extensive involvement in the QS Intelligence Unit’s research, analysis and rankings
delivery. She specialises in qualitative research, having run focus groups with
prospective international students from all over the world. Leading on key partner
relationships, she regularly liaises with university officials and presents at higher
education conferences. Coming from a student leadership background, Dasha
previously represented the academic interests of over 30,000 students in one of the
biggest Students’ Unions in the UK.
Josie West
Josie is a Market Insights Researcher at QS. She works on new content in the form
of reports, articles, blog posts, conference proposals and presentations. Josie has
extensive experience with social and qualitative research, using a variety of methods
including surveys and interviews. She is responsible for conducting the research
on the ground, running focus groups worldwide and seeing the project through to
completion, from analysis to write-up.
Georgia Philippou
Graphic designer Georgia Philippou creates innovative infographics and visualisations
based on QS’s research and rankings. Her work is featured on TopUniversities.com
and TopMBA.com, and across the company’s social media channels. Georgia is the
lead designer for a range of online publications, including a popular range of guides
for prospective students, as well as market research reports for higher education
professionals.
Samuel Gordon
Samuel Gordon was the Research Analyst for the Institute of Student Employers (ISE)
between 2014 and 2018. During that time he delivered the ISE research program
and was responsible for the design, analysis and reporting of pioneering employer
surveys of UK market trends, as well as helping organisations to act on the findings by
presenting these at a wide range of conferences and events. Sam has a quantitative
background, a reputation for bringing data to life, and holds an MSc from Oxford
University.
4
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
INTRODUCTION
This report will examine the relationship between opinions between small and larger companies, as
graduate skills and employer expectations in well as between levels of seniority of company
today’s ever-changing labour market. Key findings staff employers. These insights can potentially be
from the QS Global Employer Survey 2018 and harnessed by universities when planning for the
the QS Applicant Survey 2018 will be evaluated to critical skills that will empower their students in
explore the link between employer and applicant future interactions with employers worldwide.
expectations, highlighting key areas of alignment
and misalignment. This study was carried out in It is commonly perceived that employers feel there
conjunction with the UK-based Institute of Student is a graduate skills gap, suggesting that universities
Employers (ISE), hence their latest insights are also do not necessarily provide enough opportunities
incorporated, providing guidance on how the skills for students to develop skills critical for the labour
gap can be bridged and using the UK labour market market. This report confirms this perception for
as a case study. The two QS research exercises are particular skills, and in every country surveyed.
conducted annually with thousands of employers The data reflects two defining measures of skills:
and prospective students worldwide. The most the weight of importance employers place on
recent surveys received more than 11,000 and a particular skill; and the perceived employer
16,000 responses respectively, enabling a global satisfaction with this skill in the graduates they
perspective to be developed. This report will also hire. For almost all skills, the number of employers
include a global overview of divergences between satisfied with a particular skill does not match
regions, and a more targeted analysis of shifting the number who regard that skill as important.
5
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
In general, larger companies are more satisfied skills, like team-playing and resilience, often becomes
with the skills they find in their graduate hires, as important as the technical skills and knowledge
which may suggest that such companies are more acquired during a degree. Opportunities for internships,
attractive to high performing students, or that they study abroad, extra-curricular activity and active
have more rigorous selection processes which learning can all contribute to the development of these
are better at identifying the skills they require in and other skills universities want.”
graduate hires.
This insight can help bridge the gap between
Stephen Isherwood, CEO of the ISE, identifies the students, employers and universities and can
biggest challenge graduates currently face: “The enable an in-depth exploration of which skills and
pace of change in the workplace is ever increasing, so behaviors need to be developed. Additionally, the
graduates need to ensure they are developing the skills way in which students adopt skills must be adapted
and abilities that will not only empower them to land and this can be achieved by a more symbiotic
the job of their choice, but also allow them to thrive as relationship between employers and universities.
their career develops.” Examining the most desired skills by employers,
in differing regions, countries and company sizes,
This perception is echoed by Nunzio Quacquarelli,
provides context and incentive to act on this
CEO of QS, commenting on the role universities
insight, allowing universities and students to make
play in this: “It is becoming more and more vital
informed decisions.
that universities also prepare graduates for the world
of work. This means that the development of soft
6
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Divergences between regions and countries: Mismatched expectations among students and
employers:
• Employers perceive some skills to be more
important than others. The three most • Students do not fully understand how
important skills are perceived to be: problem employers value skills. For example, students
solving, teamwork, and communication. relatively over-value the importance of
The three least important are: commercial creativity and leadership skills, and under-
awareness, negotiating and language skills. value the importance of flexibility/adaptability
and teamwork.
• The biggest shortfall is perceived for the skill
of resilience, while the best alignment between • There is a need for the most valued skills to
expectations and reality is for teamwork. be clearly communicated, to ensure that when
students up-skill, they focus on areas which
• On a regional basis, North American employers
organisations prioritise. From an employer
are most satisfied with the skills of their
point of view, the ability of students to learn is
graduates, while Latin American employers
more important than their creativity.
are the least satisfied. In terms of five key
country markets considered, UK employers Key points of learning:
are the most satisfied and Russian employers
• There are many actions that organisations can
are the least satisfied.
take to bridge skills gaps. Research from the
• Research by the ISE broadly aligns with the UK ISE highlights UK employers, many of whom
trends highlighted in the QS Global Employer are already improving selection processes,
Survey. In the US, graduates seem to perform changing the level, methods and focus of on-
more strongly in the areas of commercial the-job training, highlighting skills gaps more
awareness, negotiating and language skills, effectively to students and running internship
relative to graduates from other countries. programs. Recruiting organisations in other
countries may want to explore and consider
Divergences among companies and senior
these approaches.
employers:
• Skills gaps pose a challenge to employers
• Small firms are the most dissatisfied with
around the world. Many of the core issues
the skill of commercial awareness in their
are similar worldwide, so there is value in
graduates. Leadership skills are more important
sharing challenges and best practice between
than technical skills for larger employers.
employers across the globe to bridge the
7
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
The following two sections provide a global This particular skill deserves more attention. It is
overview and analysis of graduate skills according defined by the American Psychological Association
to employers, and explore divergences between (APA*) as “ … the process of adapting well in the face
geographical regions. These insights may be helpful of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant
for universities who are seeking to identify and sources of stress — such as family and relationship
bridge any employability skills’ deficiencies within problems, serious health problems or workplace and
their student body. The observations may also financial stressors. It means ‘bouncing back’ from
prove useful for students that wish to understand difficult experiences.” Thus, the lack of such ability
which skills are important to employers in different is indicative of a negative response to conflict
regions. or stress, something every graduate is likely to
experience in a new role. The APA assures that
Two factors are used to identify deficiencies in
resilience is not a personality trait but rather a
skills. The importance factor is a measure of how
behaviour that can be learned, suggesting that it
many employers see a skill as important or very
is something that both universities and employers
important, minus the employers who see the
may be able to foster. The APA further notes that
skill as not important. The satisfaction factor is
resilience is associated with communication skills,
a measure of how many employers are satisfied
as we have seen, a skill that employers worldwide
or very satisfied with the particular skill in their
find somewhat lacking in graduates.
graduate hires, minus the employers who are not
satisfied. Where the importance factor is higher Commercial awareness achieves the highest
than the satisfaction factor, there is a ‘skills gap’. Satisfaction to Importance score, which could
A satisfaction factor score which equates to, or suggest either that students develop this skill
surpasses, the importance factor score is rare, while at university, or that employers don’t place
but when it occurs, it demonstrates that employer substantial importance on commercial awareness
expectations are met or exceeded. compared to other skills, as they perhaps expect
graduates to develop it on the job. If the latter is the
Overall, across the globe, problem solving, the
case, this is perhaps also indicative of the skill set of
ability to work in a team, and communication, are
the social media generation, which has grown up in
considered to be the most important skills. There
a more digital and commercialised world.
is a large ‘skills gap’ in relation to problem solving,
with employers giving it an importance factor score
of 96, but a satisfaction factor score of just 67. The
ability to work in a team shows more promise, “It is becoming more and more vital that
with an importance factor score of 95, and a universities also prepare graduates for
satisfaction factor score of 80; this represents one the world of work. This means that the
of the smallest margins of the 15 skills surveyed.
development of soft skills, like team-playing
The third most demanded skill, communication,
and resilience, often becomes as important
was given an importance factor score of 95, but
as the technical skills and knowledge
achieved a satisfaction factor score of 71.
acquired during a degree.”
The most pronounced skills gap across the board
emerges in resilience/dealing with conflict. This Nunzio Quacquarelli
ranked as the seventh most important skill yet CEO, QS
achieved a Satisfaction Factor score of just 58.
* http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience.aspx
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
9
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
Adaptability 76 74 79
Problem-solving 75 73 75
Teamwork 82 83 83
Communication 69 83 82
Interpersonal skills 82 81 78
Organisation 77 69 77
Data analysis 78 72 78
Technical 83 79 83
Resilience 61 67 70
Subject knowledge 81 71 81
Creativity 69 76 75
Language 67 62 80
Leadership 60 60 65
Negotiating 50 64 71
Commercial awareness 51 66 72
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
Adaptability 72 63 72
Problem-solving 64 56 70
Teamwork 81 70 78
Communication 69 57 68
Interpersonal skills 78 67 77
Organisation 72 59 69
Data analysis 67 60 65
Technical 76 77 79
Resilience 57 39 56
Subject knowledge 75 67 72
Creativity 57 59 59
Language 68 52 71
Leadership 57 51 65
Negotiating 55 45 64
Commercial awareness 51 48 54
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
North America is the region where employers employers in that region are, overall, not dissatisfied
are most satisfied with the skills presented by with graduate performance in this area.
graduates, while Latin America is the region
Employers in Europe give an extremely high
with the least satisfied employers. This could be
satisfaction to importance ratio for commercial
indicative of the quality of education in the former
awareness, especially in Eastern Europe where
region, which is home to some of the world’s
the satisfaction rating is 66. Employers in Eastern
highest ranked universities. Employers in North
Europe are also highly satisfied with the creativity
America consider flexibility/adaptability, problem
of graduates in comparison to other regions, with
solving, and the ability to work in a team, as highly
a satisfaction rating of 76. Other areas in which
important, expressing the highest satisfaction level
graduates in this region appear to excel are the
worldwide for these skills at 83.
ability to work in a team, and communication skills
By comparison, Latin America is still an emerging and interpersonal skills. Problem solving skills seem
market with a relative scarcity of globally regarded to be a significant area of deficiency, suggesting this
institutions. Many countries in this region are is an area in which universities are underperforming.
currently investing in their higher education
Resilience, dealing with conflict, and communication
sectors to influence the league tables in their favor,
skills all receive a low satisfaction rating among
whilst increasing international student numbers.*
employers in Western Europe. This indicates space
Universities in this region could significantly help
for improvement in these spheres among students
their graduates succeed by fostering desirable skills
and institutions. Flexibility/adaptability, problem
such as problem solving, the ability to work in a
solving and the ability to work in a team are
team, and communication, which employers from
considered the most important skills in this region,
the region regard as the three most important. It
with teamwork scoring the highest satisfaction
should be noted that employers from this region
score of 83. This score for teamwork is the highest
express most satisfaction with the technical skills
among all of the regions surveyed, alongside North
of the graduates they employ.
America which also received a score of 83.
Asia-Pacific is the region in which employers are
the least satisfied with creativity skills, identifying
this as a skills area in which university preparation
is potentially falling short. On the other hand, the
ability to work in a team, interpersonal skills and
“In my business (Offshore Engineering) we
technical skills show higher satisfaction scores than
still tend to recruit engineers with traditional
in other regions. Technical skills in particular are
engineering degrees rather than multi-
given a relatively strong satisfaction to importance
ratio.
disciplinary ones. Good knowledge of the
chosen subject is key and digital competence
Employers in Africa and the Middle East are also is becoming increasingly important.
dissatisfied with the creativity of graduates, giving Employers also value when students manage
this skill a Satisfaction Factor score of just 59, as to get involved with external companies
compared to the 57 registered in Asia-Pacific.
Employers in Africa and the Middle East are also
during their studies.”
the most satisfied with the technical skills of
Johan Reenskaug
the graduates they hire and regard the ability to
Engineering manager, Aker Solutions
work in a team as crucially important. Teamwork
has a Satisfaction score of 78, indicating that the
*http://www.reimagine-education.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/RE_White-Paper_Student-Mobility-Demographic-Changes.pdf
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
1 2 3 4 5
Problem-solving Teamwork Communication Adaptability Interpersonal skills
Five countries - US, UK, China, Russia and Australia importance employers place on each skill, and
- are highlighted in this section as some of the key their levels of satisfaction with graduates, reveal
and substantially diverging recruitment markets. relative best practice or weakness. These insights
Results for these countries can also be teased can provide a guide for academic institutions in
out from the overall global trends. Benchmarks these countries to focus on skills building.
for each of them are explored below. The relative
differences between these countries in both the
UK Australia
US China
Russia
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
There are variations in China and Russia. Chinese due to the flexible nature of the UK recruitment
employers prioritise resilience over adaptability, market. According to research by the ISE, 82%
while Russian employers prioritise analytical skills of employers don’t mind which degree subject a
and the depth of knowledge in a subject over candidate has studied.
adaptability and interpersonal skills.
ISE research on UK skills gaps also broadly aligns
The relative satisfaction with skills is more varied. with the QS findings. There are eight skills which
Overall, the UK and Australia have the highest both organisations have asked UK employers for
levels of satisfaction with graduate skills. The views on. The three skills employers are most
three areas in which the UK has the biggest relative dissatisfied with are the same in both cases:
gain – where their satisfaction score for a skill is commercial awareness, resilience and negotiating.
higher than the global satisfaction score – are in The three skills employers are least dissatisfied
creativity, leadership and teamwork. These seem with are also the same: teamwork, interpersonal
to be areas in which the UK education system is skills and problem solving. In addition, levels of
over-performing relative to other countries, or dissatisfaction are similar, although employers
where levels of these skills are more in line with the represented in the ISE survey are slightly more
expectations of employers than they are elsewhere dissatisfied with communication and time
in the world. Efforts dedicated to developing these management skills.
skills in UK graduates may be worth sharing more
It is important to note that ISE uses a different
widely.
methodology when asking employers about skills
Relative shortfalls are also shown below. Chinese gaps, gathering responses from development
and Russian employers are generally less satisfied professionals on whether graduates do or do not
with the skills of the graduates they hire. Relative have specific skills, rather than seeking their levels
shortfalls – where the satisfaction score for a skill of satisfaction. However, the similarity in results
is below the global average – can also be found in suggests that both sets of findings are relatively
countries which perform well overall: Australia, robust.
for example, has relative shortfalls in commercial
These findings can be used to guide discussion and
awareness, organisational skills, and resilience.
debate and to add focus to skills building initiatives.
Academic institutions in countries with such
relative shortfalls may want to focus their attention
on these areas.
“The main challenge graduates face is
Detailed trends: UK accessing opportunities to develop key ‘soft
skills’ such as leadership, confidence and
The UK, as the country with the highest overall
resilience. There is also a lack of awareness
satisfaction scores, is worthy of a more detailed
about the need to develop these skills. This
exploration to identify learning opportunities.
means students graduate without a level of
The top skills that UK employers seek seem to
employability and are thus underemployed or
be the skills which they are most satisfied with,
which shows relatively good alignment with what unable to secure roles.”
universities are providing. UK employers place a
higher premium on communication, interpersonal, Henry Aspinall
Head of Partnerships, Work Ready
and technical skills and a lower premium on the
depth of knowledge in a subject, which could be
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
This section looks at differences in employers’ than in large companies. One clear example is
opinions based on the size of company they technical skills, for which satisfaction almost
come from. The intention is to shed light on the meets the importance attributed to this skill in
relationship between company size and the larger companies, while a wider gap can be seen in
importance and development of specific skills. small companies. This result could indicate a better
capacity of large companies to identify and attract
Companies of different sizes place a similar the technical skills needed for the positions offered
importance on each of the 15 skills. One key to graduates. Large companies may also have
difference is that small companies attribute less greater access to the opportunities and experience
importance to leadership skills when compared required to develop and cultivate these abilities.
to medium and large companies. The number
of employees might influence how leadership is The exception is creativity skills, for which large
perceived and therefore impact its relevance for a companies showed a slightly wider gap than small
companies, indicating that small companies might
company.
either select more graduates with this skill set, or
Overall, the gap between satisfaction and provide a better environment to both attract and
importance scores is wider in small companies exercise creativity.
Problem-solving 70 67 64
Teamwork 81 79 80
Communication 74 71 68
Interpersonal skills 78 79 76
Adaptability 74 73 70
Data analysis 73 67 66
Organisation 76 68 67
Resilience 59 59 55
Creativity 64 63 66
Subject knowledge 76 74 71
Leadership 61 58 55
Technical 80 78 77
Language 67 65 64
Negotiating 60 60 51
Commercial awareness 57 60 51
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
On the other hand, large companies have higher C levels, HR professionals, Middle Management,
satisfaction scores for organisational skills and Administrators.
than medium and small companies. A possible
Among the C Level respondents alone, satisfaction
explanation for this is that larger companies often
scores for commercial awareness did not meet
have a more established culture and defined
the importance scores, and it was also the group
processes for completing tasks and running
with the highest importance scores for commercial
projects. This structure, alongside more defined
awareness of the respondent groups. One way
roles, may positively contribute to the development
to bridge this gap would be to have graduate
of organisational skills. There is also the chance
hires shadowing C levels in their interactions
that employers from large companies put more
with external stakeholders, so this skill set can be
emphasis in assessing organisational skills in their
developed on the job and at different organisational
recruitment process.
levels.
C HR Middle
Levels Professionals Management Admins
Teamwork 78 80 80 80
Problem-solving 56 68 69 72
Adaptability 68 71 72 76
Communication 65 71 71 73
Interpersonal skills 73 77 79 79
Data analysis 62 71 69 74
Organisation 61 72 71 77
Resilience 50 57 56 64
Creativity 56 68 66 68
Technical 72 79 78 82
Subject knowledge 66 75 77 76
Negotiating 44 53 58 67
Leadership 49 54 59 67
Language 60 59 68 69
Commercial awareness 45 54 57 62
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
The graduate labor market is full of expectations miscommunication and misinformation of one
– from both graduates and employers. of the most important stakeholder groups in
Arguably, graduates are in a tougher position, the labor market – the students.
both due to their lack of work experience and
also because they need to understand what is
Most desired skills
expected of them, demonstrate it during the
recruitment process and ultimately appeal As demonstrated before, the top three
to their future employer. This equation is of skills employers unanimously want to see in
course not complete without the university – graduates are problem solving, teamwork
one bridge between graduates and employers, and communication. On the student side,
and the place where students are expected to the three most important skills they believe
gain many of the skills necessary for entering ‘employers value most in new recruits, and
employment, often, for the very first time. hence they would like to develop at university’
are: creativity, organisational and problem
This section compares data from the QS
solving skills. Problem solving is the only skill
Applicant Survey, which gathers over 16,000
that features on both the student and employer
student responses annually, to employer views
list of top three priorities. There is clearly a
on skills. 12 skills common to both surveys were
mismatch overall.
considered. This list is further benchmarked
to the ISE skills list, as well as the National One possible reason for the mismatch is the fact
Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) that students’ understanding of the necessary
list - the equivalent of ISE in the US. The gaps skills is shaped by multiple influencers at once –
between student and employer expectations their university, school counselors, parents and
are therefore explored, highlighting the friends, the media, and perhaps to an extent,
Target disciplines 68
International experience 70
Best grades 69
Extra-curricular 73
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
Biggest gaps
The analysis above demonstrates that for “Universities must become increasingly
several skills the gaps are particularly noticeable, responsible for growing awareness of the
and these are skills that need to be explored in skills gap and the need for students to
more detail: flexibility and adaptability, develop ‘soft skills’. Student development
analytical skills, leadership, creativity and is down to the individual student and their
organisational skills. They present the biggest motivation to improve their employability,
mismatch between employer and student
but the awareness should be the
opinion. Employers value flexibility and
adaptability, and analytical skills highly, while responsibility of universities.”
students do not put the same emphasis on Henry Aspinall
them. In the case of leadership, creativity and Head of Partnerships, Work Ready
organisational skills– the opposite is the case.
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
One of the most interesting findings from the experience. This suggests that students
data is that employers who prioritise graduates participating in these activities in addition to
from highly ranked institutions are more their degrees tend to develop additional skills
satisfied with the level of skills they receive. as compared to other students.
The next most satisfied group of employers are
those focusing on students that have partaken
in demonstrable extra-curricular activities,
followed by students with international
Problem-solving 1
2 3
Teamwork 2
3 5
Communication 3
3 6
Adaptability 4
5 9
Data analysis 5
7 12
Resilience 6
1 7
Organisation 7
5 2
Technical skills 8
2 10
Creativity 9
8 1
Leadership 10
6 4
Language 11 0 11
Commercial awareness 12
4 8
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
20
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
managers of graduates, recognising the value of the training of recruits covers in the two years
involving wider stakeholders to help with improving analysed. Business communication and commercial
graduate performance. Other employers may want awareness training appear to have become more
to review whether these approaches could also be common, perhaps reflecting a recognition by
suitable for their organisation. employers that some skills are best trained on the
job, and resilience and team working have also
There seem to have been some changes to what seen an increased priority. Responsively adjusting
Communication
Commercial Awareness
Resilience
Teamwork
Problem-solving
Negotiating
Interpersonal skills
on-the-job training can address skills’ challenges in offered to students over summer months and are
the short term. typically paid positions. 63% of ISE employers
state that former interns that they recruit have
In the longer term, internship programs can help
the soft skills they expect, compared to just 48%
to close graduate skills gaps prior to graduate
of graduates in general. In fact, 70% of employers
hiring. In the UK, internships are temporary work
who compare former interns with other graduates,
opportunities between 4-12 weeks that are
state that interns outperform their peers in at least
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
one respect. There is evidently value in expanding ISE employers with each of the graduate skills at
and enhancing internship programs. the point of hiring, as compared with 2015. This
trend should be interpreted with care: it may be
As all these efforts continue, specific skills gaps
down to growing awareness of skills gaps, or
for UK graduates appear to be closing. There is
better assessment of them, rather than a genuine
an average increase of 7% in the satisfaction of
increase in skilled candidates. But it also suggests
Resilience
Negotiating
Commercial Awareness
Communication
Teamwork
Problem-solving
Interpersonal skills
that progress is being made and can be built on. transferable skills will set them up for success
There is value in tracking the same set of skills over with employers from around the globe. However,
time and communicating the trends. the ability of students to learn seems to be
more important to employers than their existing
Communicating a number of key messages to
creativity or leadership skills, so they need to
students could further help them to optimise
receive the message from the institutions at which
their soft skills development whilst at university.
they study that it will pay dividends when they
It continues to be important that students invest
look for a job if they invest in their adaptability and
in the core skills of problem solving, teamwork
be prepared to continue learning when they are
and communication skills. Strengths in these
employed.
22
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
1 2 3 4 5
Communication Strategic Thinking Interpersonal skills Management Leadership
Global businesses have high expectations when When exploring the evaluation of skills by MBA
they invest in MBA talent. More than any other employers, a clear gap emerges between what
degree type, employers believe MBA graduates employers want and where MBA hires appear
should have already established a professional to excel. Specific skills – such as marketing,
record before refining their skills and perspectives finance, and computer skills – receive the highest
in business school. In fact, nearly 70%of employers satisfaction scores, even though these are not rated
expect MBA graduates to hold at least four years as highly as soft skills to employers. On the other
of work experience. This advanced profile is hand, strategic thinking and leadership – voted in
what makes MBA hires unique to organisations the top five skills by employers – are evaluated
and is what drives the salary premium that MBA with the lowest satisfaction. This gap, one where
graduates often command. the most important skills are evaluated relatively
poorly by employers, has the potential to threaten
Nearly 15%of employers represented in this report
the long-term value proposition of management
actively recruit MBA graduates. This rate is higher
education.
in industries such as consulting and finance and
lower in science, law, and non-profits. Findings in
this section reflect insights collected from some of The impact of industry
the most sought-after destinations for MBA talent,
Skill expectations for MBA graduates depend
including McKinsey & Company, Ernst & Young,
largely on industry factors. Employers in the leading
Goldman Sachs, and Google.
sectors for MBA talent – consulting, finance, and
technology – each identify distinct skills priorities
Skill expectations and evaluation for business and shortcomings.
school graduates
In consulting firms, for instance, communication
MBA employers overwhelmingly rate soft skills was reported as the most important skill compared
as more important than hard skills. This is not to with, not surprisingly, financial skills in the
imply that technical knowledge is unimportant, finance industry, and, perhaps more surprisingly,
but to emphasize that the ability to interact, interpersonal skills in technology companies.
communicate, and lead remains paramount to These varied outcomes extend to skills gaps too.
successfully moving organisations forward. In consulting, where employees typically support
23
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
78 72 95 63
E-Business Communication
67 63 98 71
Risk Management
Marketing
81 79 85 65
clients with insights and guidance, strategic Firms operating in different sectors clearly tailor
thinking shows a negative gap of 46 points. In their hiring practices to meet the unique operating
finance, leadership shows the biggest gap of 35 challenges they face. Although MBA graduates
points. Finally, a 44-point mismatch in data skills are well positioned to add value in all professional
drives discontent in the technology industry where settings, understanding the skills pain points of
MBAs may find themselves working closely with specific industries will enable them to further
experienced data scientists and engineers. standout in the interview process.
24
The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
Other interesting findings relating to skills and • Global and regional companies are much
MBA hiring: more likely than local companies to note the
importance of multi-lingual abilities of MBA
• Companies that are optimistic about the graduates.
future report smaller skills gaps, on average,
than companies who are less optimistic. Awareness of these skills and their observed gaps
can help business schools open dialogue with
• Small companies value entrepreneurial corporate partners, shape curriculum on campus,
skillsets more than larger companies and are and better prepare students for interviews.
less satisfied with these skills in MBA hires.
For more information on the business school
• Satisfaction scores for strategic thinking are insights available from this survey, please contact
significantly higher for organizations that alex.chisholm@qs.com.
demand a greater amount of work experience
from MBA hires.
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
METHODOLOGY
Authors: Data Sources:
• QS Global Employer Survey 2018:
• QS Intelligence Unit (QS)
11,008 responses
• Institute of Student Employers (ISE)
• QS Applicant Survey 2018: 16,560 responses
• ISE 2017 Annual Survey: 200 responses
• ISE Development Survey: 173 responses
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
The decisions to cluster the company sizes that were previously separated in the survey were taken
considering the homogeneity of results during the analysis.
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
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The Global Skills Gap in the 21st Century
About ISE
The Institute of Student Employers (ISE), formerly known as the Association of Graduate Recruiters is
an independent, not-for-profit member organisation which was established in 1968. As the UK’s leading
independent voice for student employers, the ISE brings together employers, educational institutions and
supplier partners, providing leadership and support in all aspects of student recruitment and development.
About QS
Established in 1990, QS is dedicated to providing independent and authoritative research and resources for
both prospective students and higher education providers worldwide. The QS World University Rankings®,
published annually since 2004 and hosted on student-focused platform TopUniversities.com, is among the
most-consulted resources in the sector.
In response to growing public demand for comparative data on universities and other higher education
providers, and for institutions to develop deeper insight into their competitive environment, the QS Intelligence
Unit was formed in 2008. Committed to the key values of rigorous integrity, undeniable value, unique insight
and charismatic presentation, QSIU strives to be the most trusted independent source of global intelligence on
the higher education sector.
In addition to the research and insights provided by QSIU, the company offers a range of services to help
prospective international students find the right institution – and vice versa. This includes a global series of
higher education fairs; an annual publication cycle of guides, reports and e-papers; and a dynamic range of
online platforms.
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All information © QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd 2018