Study examines the untapped potential of
workers in the first of a series of studies comprising the
refreshed "People at Work 2025" report, built on the ADP Research
Global Workforce Survey
ROSELAND, N.J., Jan. 13,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Employers that invest in
continued learning and on-the-job development stand to reap
bottom-line benefits that go beyond having a well-prepared
workforce. According to the first study in ADP Research's refreshed
"People at Work 2025" report series, only a quarter (24%) of
the global workforce is confident they have the skills needed to
advance to the next job level in the near future, while just 17
percent of workers strongly agree their employers are investing in
the skills they need for career advancement.
The refreshed People at Work series dives
into topics by market, crucial for the increasingly borderless
world of work.
For employers, the need to prioritize skills development is
deeper than building a workforce that keeps pace with today's
dynamic workplace. ADP Research's analysis found providing
employees with the skills of tomorrow is correlated to
productivity, retention and reputation.
"Our research shows that a skilled workforce is more loyal to
their employers—and more productive. Yet only a small fraction of
workers are upskilled within two years of being hired," said
Nela Richardson, chief economist,
ADP. "If companies want to benefit from the enormous technological
advancement to come, they must start with investing in the skills
and career progression of their workers."
The skills development analysis launches "People at Work
2025," ADP Research's annual lens into the world of work that
has been given a data refresh in 2025 in addition to being revamped
as a series of reports on various workplace topics. The refreshed
report is built on workplace data and topics from ADP Research's
Global Workforce Survey which has been conducted since 2015.
"People at Work" provides comprehensive worker sentiment on
how workers feel and think, as well as what they expect from their
employer, with a purpose to empower employers to meet challenges
and capitalize on opportunities amid a rapidly changing world of
work.
The Untapped Potential of Workers
In the first
installment of the "People at Work 2025" report series, the
ADP Research team examined the impact of skills development learned
through on-the-job training and found most workers think their
employers could be doing better when it comes to skills
development. The analysis further finds the business opportunity
that comes with building out comprehensive training programs that
help ensure employees are prepared for tomorrow's world of
work.
"We found that education is not enough to fill the skills gap,"
said Mary Hayes, research director
of People & Performance at ADP Research. "Only 24 percent of
workers are confident that they have the skills needed to advance
in the next three years of their careers. The world of work is
changing at light speed, and organizations need to do their part to
close the skills gap."
Other key findings include:
- The opportunity to get ahead is important, and not just for
workers. When workers globally were asked to provide the top
reasons why they would stay with their employer, the opportunity
for career advancement is second only to flexibility in
scheduling.
- Workers who feel strongly their employer is providing the
training they need are nearly 6 times more likely to recommend
their company as a great place to work.
- These same workers are also 3.3 times more likely to describe
themselves as highly-productive.
- They're also twice as likely to say they have no intent to
leave their organization compared to workers who have the skills
but lack on-the-job training opportunities.
- Cycle workers, those that do similar repetitive tasks daily, in
particular have a dismal view of employer investment, with only 9
percent of men and 7 percent of women expressing satisfaction in
their upskilling opportunities.
The refreshed "People at Work 2025" series will dive deep
into key topics at a market-by-market level, crucial for the
increasingly borderless world of work. Digging into some of the
market-by-market findings from the skills development launch story,
ADP Research's analysis reveals:
- Workers in the Middle East
& Africa were most likely to
believe they have the skills needed to advance their career to the
next job level in the next three years (38%), followed by
Latin America (32%), North America (22%), Asia-Pacific (21%), and Europe (17%).
- Workers in the Middle East
& Africa were also the most
likely to say their employer invests in the skills needed to
advance their career in the future (28%), followed by North America (18%), Latin America and Asia-Pacific (17%), and Europe (12%).
- By markets, workers in Nigeria
were the most likely to believe they have the skills needed to
advance their career to the next job level in the next three years
(45%), followed by Egypt (44%),
South Africa (42%), India and Brazil (37%), Saudi Arabia (36%),
Chile (32%), Argentina (30%), and Peru (30%).
- By markets, workers in Egypt
were the most likely to say their employer invests in the skills
needed to advance their career in the future (35%), followed by
India (32%), South Africa (29%), Saudi Arabia (28%), Nigeria (27%), Brazil and Thailand (24%), Vietnam and Singapore (23%), and Philippines (21%).
"People at Work 2025" Report Series
Methodology
For the first time, "People at Work" is
built on the ADP Research Global Workforce Survey, a robust study
conducted annually since 2015. The survey was designed by ADP
Research's team of analysts by obtaining information about the
labor market from the perspective of workers themselves, with the
goal of providing insights that can improve the world of work by
better understanding worker sentiment and expectations.
Based on survey data from nearly 38,000 working adults in 34
markets across six continents, "People at Work 2025"
features a more robust, representative sample of the global
workforce to provide regional and market-to-market comparisons of
worker sentiment in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Latin
America, the Middle East
and Africa, and North America.
Respondents come from a wide variety of industries, educational
backgrounds, on-site and remote work environments and skill sets.
They represent a range of management and individual contributor
roles, working for employers of all sizes.
A unique attribute of the "People at Work 2025" report
series is its measurement of worker sentiment in granular detail
across worker types using a proprietary methodology developed by
ADP Research. In addition to demographic and employer
characteristics, survey respondents are classified by the type of
work they do – knowledge, skilled task, or cyclical – regardless of
industry.
"People at Work's" ability to gather sentiment along
these different worker and geographical dimensions provides
employers with a fine-tuned and granular view of the global
workforce that they can leverage to better understand their
workforces and drive growth through data-driven talent
decisions.
"The future of work will be increasingly global and dynamic in
its priorities," said Richardson. "The new People at Work
series format enables a more focused analysis of the data by topic
and region, better ensuring worldwide business leaders with varying
needs are provided with the same level of actionable research on a
wide range of subjects impacting their employees."
Each report will pair global trends with market-by-market
insights on workplace topics ranging from artificial intelligence
and inflation's impact on having multiple jobs, to wage trends and
career development.
Stay Up-to-Date on the "People at Work 2025" Report
Series
Publishing throughout early 2025, the revamped
"People at Work 2025" report series can help companies stay
on the right track for today's workplace, while prepare them to
capitalize on the opportunities that will come with the future of
work.
To stay current on the latest studies in the "People at Work
2025" report series, visit here.
About ADP Research
The mission of ADP Research is to
make the future of work more productive through data-driven
discovery. Companies, workers, and policymakers rely on our finely
tuned data and unique perspective to make informed decisions that
impact workplaces around the world.
About ADP (NASDAQ – ADP)
Designing better ways
to work through cutting-edge products, premium services and
exceptional experiences that enable people to reach their full
potential. HR, Talent, Time Management, Benefits and Payroll.
Informed by data and designed for people. Learn more at
ADP.com.
ADP, the ADP logo, and Always Designing for People, ADP
National Employment Report, ADP Research Institute and ADP Research
are trademarks of ADP, Inc. All other marks are the property of
their respective owners.
Copyright © 2025 ADP, Inc. All rights reserved.
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SOURCE ADP, Inc.