With the recent slew of cyber attacks on household names, M&S, Co-Op and Harrods, attention has refocused on narrowing the UK’s digital skills gap.
The government’s strategy to achieve this, via the Skills England body set up last autumn, is viewed positively by employees.
A survey of 2,000 UK employees, conducted in April 2025 and commissioned by insight firm O’Reilly, found that 58 percent of UK employees are confident the government’s plans to narrow the digital skills gap will work. And more than half (53 percent) of employees believe upskilling, reskilling, flexible learning and apprentice schemes will have the biggest impact.
However, 30 percent of workers reported that learning and development (L&D) is not part of their performance review process.
Separate research indicates that employers are less optimistic about the government’s plans. Analysis from In-Comm’s Training Barometer found that business leaders lack confidence in the government’s ability to close the current skills gap. More than three-fifths (61 percent) of employers are unclear about what Skills England has been set up to do.
Further results from the O’Reilly survey shows that 31 percent of employees recognise the importance of higher education in closing the skills gap, while 39 percent said increased investment in apprenticeship schemes would have a greater impact.
Alexia Pedersen, SVP international at O’Reilly, said: “As many young people question the financial viability of higher education, Learning at Work Week provides an important reminder for employers that continuous, in-the-flow-of-work learning opportunities offer an alternative path into high-demand careers. Particularly in fields such as AI, cybersecurity, and cloud computing.
“At the same time, employees should feel empowered to drive forward their own learning, building skills for the future that will make them an invaluable asset to their organisation. This joint responsibility will be key to creating a highly skilled workforce that keeps British businesses at the forefront of their industries globally.”
Previous research, published by O’Reilly in October 2024, found that employers consider digital upskilling to be more cost-effective than increasing headcount to tackle skills shortages.
The survey with 500 employers in large UK companies (with 250+ employees) showed that the skills most in demand were around AI, cybersecurity, cloud, and software architecture. Yet in spite of this, the April 2025 research suggests UK employers are not measuring the impact of their L&D investments.
More positively, the April survey found that 74 percent of UK employees believe their organisation has increased its use of workplace technologies in the past 12 months. A third said their employer has offered the same or fewer tech-related L&D opportunities over the same period.
But 61 percent of employees said they are confident their employer is offering regular AI training to help them keep up with the developing technology.
In terms of technical L&D opportunities, 43 percent of employees said they were most interested in GenAI, while 35 percent found upskilling in automation and machine learning most appealing. Learning more about robotic process automation appealed to 16 percent of employees, while 13 percent expressed an interest in building quantum computing skills.
However, researchers found that 34 percent of employees reported that a lack of time stopped them from pursuing tech-focused learning opportunities. Nearly a fifth (19 percent) reported that they lack access to learning materials at their point of need.
Researchers said that streamlining workforce and L&D strategies now could bring “significant wins in the war for talent”. This is backed up by the survey results as 30 percent of employees said that employer investment in continuous learning was key when looking for their next role.
Pedersen said: “With a stronger focus on upskilling, businesses will continue to build a sustainable talent pipeline that helps them truly bridge the skills gap. Only by fostering a culture of continuous learning—through on-the-job training, with access to contextually relevant and high-quality learning materials at the employee’s point of need—will organisations be equipped to enhance innovation that drives business competitiveness and growth.”
