Major deficit in HR reskilling
Greek enterprises are neglecting or underestimating the vocational training of their staff
Greece remains a laggard when it comes to strategies to upgrade its human resources with new skills, through reskilling and upskilling policies offered by in-company training programs.
However, recently it is becoming increasingly understood that in order for businesses to keep up with the rapid developments brought about by digital transformation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the green transition, and the knowledge and skills of their existing employees, they still complain that they cannot find suitable employees.
It is no coincidence that, according to all studies, the lack of skills is a key challenge for the sustainable development and competitiveness of businesses. But eight out of 10 find it difficult to find the human resources they need. Recently, the Federation of Industries of Greece (SBE) presented a study according to which the most critical problem Greek industry faces today is in human resources. “We lack workers, in almost every specialty, especially in modern technologies,” stated the president of the federation, Loukia Saranti, adding, “However, we also lack the ability to help our human resources become more and more harmonized with modern requirements.”
This is what the study Deloitte prepared on behalf of SBE showed, as despite the significant progress and remarkable efforts in recent years, the information of businesses regarding initiatives and actions for vocational education and training is limited, while they don’t know the tools and opportunities they can take advantage of and how they can contribute by taking an active role. At the same time, a limited allocation of funds by industrial enterprises for actions, initiatives and personnel training programs is observed, resulting in the understaffing of the relevant HR departments and the limited number of effective personnel training actions.
Greek companies must cultivate a culture of internal training and education and stop treating employees as a cost, start seeing them as an investment, and support skills upgrading.
