In this modern era we spoke to those involved in recruiting, training, and teaching about what skills those involved in recruiting believe are the most in short supply in graduates, and how educators and employers can collaborate to close that gap. For colleges and universities, conducting an extensive skills-gap analysis of their courses, curricula, and degree programs can do much to address the skills gaps currently closing the doors to industry when they see graduates. Employers could face challenges closing the gap of knowledge and skills while building the necessary infrastructure for finding, hiring, training, and upgrading their workforce. 

These gaps are widening because so many employees are now required to perform jobs for which they were neither hired nor trained. With these advances, the types of jobs roles and skills employers require are changing, and the people who can do them are not always available. As the labor market shifts toward technology, employers are having trouble finding candidates who have the experience in their pasts needed to meet the needs of changing job roles. 

In todays highly competitive, constantly evolving labor force, many employers are facing significant challenges in finding and recruiting workers of sufficient skill. As modern technologies and economic forces continue to transform the job landscape, a shortage of candidates who are prepared for a career has created an alarming disconnect between educational attainment and readiness for a career. The skills gap has placed a number of employers, businesses, and education institutions in a situation where they must investigate alternatives that can bridge the gap between job seekers skills and employers needs. 

Colleges and universities can close the existing skills gap by assessing and analyzing skills required by particular employers and industries, and reshaping courses, programs, and curricula so that courses are aligned with those skills. Companies embracing these best practices will close skills gaps within their organizations, and foster the pipeline of talented workers in the work-truck industry. To successfully close skills gaps, employers in the work truck industry should use all forms of training with a multipronged approach. 

With skills gap analytics, companies can close those gaps in their employees knowledge with intense training programs, along with mentoring. Some 41% of respondents reported that they now have programs to help mitigate skills gaps, including training on the job, mentorship, and sending employees back to school. For instance, some companies are setting up open-access training programs to make sure that more people are equipped with needed skills within a given geographical area. 

Setting up global or national screening systems allows employers to determine the skills that are most helpful to their current employees, and set new recruits up for success by specifying which complementary training they should consider. Essentially, employers should define and flag skills that they want, as well as design mechanisms to hire, train, and retain employees. Employers must then work closely with educators, telling them precisely what skills they require, and educators should tailor their programs accordingly. 

While candidates should always aim for greater education and skills, employers must provide employees with training that addresses the existing skills gaps. If educators are able to supplement traditional undergraduate degrees programs in order to better equip students and meet employer needs, then it is possible that the skills gap will be addressed. This research suggests that universities show a distinct shortage of preparing students for the acquisition of these skills. 

With business leaders expressing no-confidence today in the current college system and curriculum, it is critical for U.S. institutions of higher education to come up with solutions that address these skills gaps. It is safe to say that instead of assigning blame more on one party over the other, what is now crucial is helping facilitate collaborative efforts among corporate leaders and education leaders, with hopes to close an increasingly large skills gap. It takes employers, educators, public officials, and professional associations working together to tackle labor market trends, pinpoint skills gaps.