TalentLMS Speed-to-Skill Report: Work Is Changing Faster Than Companies Can Build Skills

TalentLMS, a leading employee training platform, today released its new Speed-to-Skill Report, finding that work is moving faster than the skills needed to do it. The report explores speed-to-skill — how fast a company can spot a new needed skill, build it, and put it to use — based on a survey of 1,500 U.S. respondents, including 964 managers and 536 employees.

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Learning by Doing Has Become the New Default

Over half of respondents (53%) say they learn new skills by doing and figuring things out on their own. The findings suggest employees are increasingly building skills in the flow of work, often faster than formal learning programs can keep up.

At the same time, 44% say work priorities are pushing learning aside, while 27% say learning isn’t integrated into daily work.

“AI isn’t just changing the skills people need, it’s accelerating how fast those skills expire,” said Dimitris Tsingos, CEO of Epignosis, parent company of TalentLMS. “Employees are already adapting in real time, but organizations are still relying on training cycles built for a slower world. The ones that close the gap between learning and doing will lead. The rest will keep training for a world that’s already moved on.”

Companies Can’t Keep Up With How Fast Skills Are Changing

Nearly half of respondents (47%) say some of their job skills have become outdated within the last five years.

Managers are noticing the shift sooner and more sharply: Twenty-one percent say their skills became outdated within the last year, compared to 10% of employees. Managers are also more than twice as likely as employees to say this happened within the last six months (12% vs. 5%).

Yet only 16% of respondents say skill-building happens quickly whenever new needs arise in their company, even as 70% agree employees need faster ways to build skills.

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Managers Are Struggling to Predict What Skills Will Matter Next

AI is compounding the uncertainty. Thirty-eight percent of managers say it’s difficult to predict which skills their teams will need in the next 12 months, while 36% say they struggle to keep up with how quickly AI is changing their team’s skill needs.

The findings overall show that skills are identified, training exists, and employees are learning — but it all moves slower than the work itself. The report lays out six strategies for building skills at the speed of work.

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