It’s Not a Skill Shortage, It’s an Upskill Crisis (and Contingent Talent is Part of the Solution)

Every few months, someone says there's a “skill shortage” and I'm fed up.

The phrase has become an excuse, a convenient explanation for hiring delays, talent gaps, and economic inertia.

But let’s be clear: we’re not suffering from a shortage of people willing or able to work. We’re suffering from a systemic underinvestment in upskilling and reskilling.

The narrative of a skill shortage implies that the talent simply isn’t out there. That it’s a supply issue and demand always outweighs supply.

But in reality, there’s a massive, overlooked pool of capable people who are either underutilised, overlooked, or unequipped with the latest tools because no one helped them evolve.

The Real Gap: Investment in Human Potential

Work is changing, rapidly. Automation, AI, and new business models have shifted the demand for skills. Yet our systems for preparing people education, workforce training, and internal L&D programs haven’t kept pace or lack funding. L&D programs are often the first budgets cut in a tight economy.

According to the World Economic Forum, over half of all employees will require significant re-skilling by 2027. Yet most organisations still invest more in hiring external talent than developing internal potential. It’s not that the skills don’t exist, it’s that we’re not cultivating them where we already have trust, culture, and institutional knowledge.

The Ecosystem is Broken, Not the Worker

Blaming the workforce for not having the right skills is like blaming farmers for not growing crops in a drought. Workers need access, support, and direction and that means:

• Employers must move beyond reactive hiring to proactive workforce development. That means building clear pathways for upskilling, career mobility, and transferable skills across departments and functions.

• Education providers must integrate lifelong learning into their model, not just degrees, but credentials, micro-learning, and flexible programs tied to actual market needs.

• Policymakers need to align training incentives with business transformation. Public-private partnerships can create agile learning ecosystems that meet both economic and community goals.

• Individuals, too, need agency, but not in a vacuum. They thrive when supported by structured opportunities, guidance, and time to learn.

What Progress Looks Like

Some forward-thinking organisations are getting it right:

• Apprenticeship-style reskilling programs for digital roles

• Internal talent marketplaces that help employees match to short-term stretch projects

• Skills-based hiring initiatives that prioritise capability over credentials

• Contingent Talent as On-the-Job Educators

But these are still the exception, not the rule. And one key strategy is how to utilise Contingent Talent as a strategic measure.

Contingent Talent as On-the-Job Educators

Done right, contingent hiring isn’t just about filling gaps, it’s about raising the baseline.

 Here’s how contingent workers contribute to upskilling:

• Knowledge diffusion: High-skill contractors bring fresh perspectives and expertise that can be transferred to FTEs through pair work, shadowing, or joint project execution.

• Speed-to-skill: Instead of waiting for formal training cycles, teams learn by doing alongside experts in emerging tech, compliance, design, or strategy.

• Culture of learning: A dynamic mix of permanent and contingent talent normalises continuous development and cross-functional exposure.

In this model, every short-term hire becomes a potential mentor-in-motion and when managed correctly can continue to contribute to growth well beyond the original engagement.

If we treat contingent talent as external plug-ins, we miss their strategic value. If we treat them as embedded accelerators, everyone levels up.

Shifting the Narrative, Unlocking the Future

We must stop talking about talent like it’s a finite commodity we’re trying to mine and start treating it like a renewable resource we’re responsible for nurturing.

Reframing the conversation from "skill shortage" to "upskill shortage" is more than semantics. It places accountability where it belongs: on systems, not individuals. On action, not inertia.

The future of workforce development isn’t just about creating training programs. It’s about designing teams and work models that bake learning into everyday delivery. That means blending internal and external expertise with purpose.

Contingent workers can (and should) be part of your upskilling strategy.

Not because they stay. But because of what they leave behind.

If you’re leading in HR, talent, or workforce strategy, what’s one upskilling initiative you’ve seen succeed (or fail)?

And if you want to know more about how to create a modern contingent talent ecosystem reach out us at Upplft.