A recent survey suggests that the professional development of employees may be being stunted in the shift to remote working, especially for younger workers.
New research by Soffos, an AI-powered workplace learning platform, has shown that many workers do not feel as though they are receiving opportunities to develop their abilities and skills professionally.
Only a fifth of employees (22 per cent) say their employers have invested in developing their skills since the start of the pandemic.
This problem was heightened among young workers. Over a third of the respondents (34 per cent) aged under 35 expressed concern that they were falling behind in comparison to their peers in terms of skills.
As such, three in 10 within this age bracket (31 per cent) stated that they would consider leaving their role unless their employer actively invested more in their personal development.
This theme has been well-documented throughout the pandemic with previous research showing that three-quarters of young people were concerned about missing out on networking opportunities.
The shift to working from home has also impacted the level of connection between staff with almost half of respondents (46 per cent) saying that they have fewer opportunities to collaborate with or learn from colleagues.
In addition to this, almost two-fifths (37 per cent) of workers say they have been hesitant to approach managers for support and guidance during the pandemic.
Donna Stephenson, Commercial Development Director at Soffos, said:
Younger employees at the beginning of their career journey have the most to gain from collaborating with colleagues. Vital knowledge and skills are picked up through training sessions, as well as organic day-to-day cooperation with peers.
Our research suggests that it is precisely this lack of hands-on mentorship and guidance that younger employees are struggling with while remote working. And while plenty of businesses have attempted to deliver training online, clearly this is failing to have an impact in many cases.
*To obtain these results, Soffos surveyed 1,235 UK professionals.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
