Businesses Face Productivity Loss Equal to 25 Working Days Every Year Due to Data Skills Gaps, Multiverse Report Reveals

Widespread Data Skills Shortages Lead to Significant Inefficiencies, Highlighting the Urgent Need for Employee Upskilling

A recent report from Multiverse has shed light on the significant productivity challenges businesses are facing due to widespread data skills gaps within their workforce. Released on August 5, the report reveals that these skills deficiencies are costing businesses the equivalent of 25 lost working days per employee each year, particularly in relation to data-related tasks.

Data has become a cornerstone of modern job roles, yet the report indicates that many employees lack the necessary skills to effectively analyze, automate, and forecast using data. This gap in expertise is having a profound impact on productivity. On average, employees spend approximately 14.3 hours per week on data tasks, accounting for 36% of their workweek. However, due to insufficient skills, 4.3 of these hours are spent unproductively, resulting in a loss of around 10% of the workweek to inefficiencies.

Euan Blair, founder and CEO of Multiverse, highlighted the severity of the issue, noting that employees are often spending a significant portion of their time working with spreadsheets without the necessary skills to do so efficiently. This inefficiency is particularly pronounced in areas such as data analysis, process automation, and predictive modeling.

The report, which analyzed data from 12,000 employees across 18 industries in the U.S. and U.K., underscores the growing need for businesses to address these skills gaps. Despite the expectation that employees should be data literate across all departments, a separate report from Forrester and Tableau found that only 39% of employers provide comprehensive data training to all employees. Moreover, while 75% of business leaders believe that employees should acquire data skills on the job, by 2025, it is projected that 70% of employees will be required to use data at some level in their roles.

This mismatch between the demand for data literacy and the current state of employee skills development is exacerbated by barriers such as time constraints, financial costs, and lack of motivation, as reported by D2L. These challenges have limited the widespread adoption of continuous upskilling, even though there is a clear consensus on its necessity among both employers and employees.

Looking ahead, businesses are recognizing the critical need for targeted upskilling in areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), and data training. According to a report from Skillsoft, these areas represent the most significant challenges in talent acquisition, and executives are increasingly prioritizing investments in these fields.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the pressure on businesses to close the data skills gap will only intensify. Addressing these deficiencies is not just a matter of improving productivity; it is essential for maintaining a competitive edge in an increasingly data-driven world.

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