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Should You Upskill, Reskill, or Hire?

With new technologies, shifting industry demands, and digital transformation changing the skills businesses need for success, a new challenge arises: how do you stay ahead while ensuring your team has the expertise to crush your goals? 

The Skills Gap

A 2023 report by the World Economic Forum found that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years due to technological advancements. In other words, the skills that made your team successful yesterday may not be enough to keep up with the demands of today–or even tomorrow. This skills gap leaves companies with three main options: hiring new talent, upskilling existing talent, or reskilling them for entirely new roles within your organization. While hiring is a great way to bring in fresh perspectives, it’s not always the most strategic or cost-effective solution. Sometimes, upskilling or reskilling current team members can be the answer you need to ensure your team is set up for long-term success while retaining your top performers. But which approach is best? The answer: it depends. 

Upskill: Elevating Your Existing Talent

Upskilling is all about enhancing your employees’ existing skills so they can take on new challenges and higher-value tasks. This could mean providing AI training for marketing teams, leadership development for high-potential employees, or certifications in new coding languages for engineers.

Best for: 

  • Keeping up with industry changes
  • Retaining top talent
  • Preparing for long-term growth

Why it works:

Employees want to grow! A LinkedIn Workplace Report found that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if they invested in their career development. Plus, keeping your current team engaged saves money on external hiring costs.

Hiring Manager Takeaway: 

  • Implement microlearning–short, focused training sessions–so employees can learn without disrupting their daily responsibilities.
  • Consider tuition reimbursement, certifications, and on-demand learning platforms to offer flexible skill development.

Reskill: Transforming Talent for New Roles

Reskilling helps employees transition into entirely new roles within your company, allowing you to adapt to industry shifts without losing valuable talent. For example, an IT help desk professional could be trained to become a cybersecurity analyst or a manufacturing worker could transition into robotics or programming.

Best for: 

  • Supporting internal mobility
  • Adapting to industry disruptions
  • Reducing external hiring costs

Why it works:

Reskilling boosts morale, increases retention, and fills skill gaps without the cost of hiring outside of the organization. It’s a win-win for everyone.

Hiring Manager Takeaway:

  • Offer mentorship programs, job rotations, and cross-training opportunities to help employees transition smoothly into new positions.
  • Use AI-driven workforce planning tools to identify transferable skills and potential reskilling opportunities within your team.

Hire: Bringing in Fresh Talent

While upskilling and reskilling have their place, sometimes, the best move is to bring in new talent with specialized expertise–especially in high-demand, emerging fields like AI, cloud computing, and machine learning. Hiring externally introduces fresh perspectives that can drive innovation and shake up stagnant processes.

Best for: 

  • Filling immediate skill gaps
  • Launching new business initiatives
  • Bringing in specialized expertise and fresh perspectives

Why it works:

Bringing in new talent often comes with new insights, industry knowledge, and innovative approaches that can give your business a competitive edge. Plus, hiring externally is often the fastest way to fill urgent roles that may take too long to develop internally.

Hiring Manager Takeaway:

  • Leverage a staffing partner, like Swoon, to access top-tier talent, including passive candidates who may not be actively looking for a new job.
  • Use data-driven hiring strategies to ensure a strong culture fit and faster time-to-hire.

Which is Right for You?

Here’s a quick guide to help you decide:

  • If you need long-term growth: Upskill your current team
  • If your industry is evolving quickly: Reskill your employees for new roles
  • If you need expertise ASAP: Hire externally

The bottom line? There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The most effective hiring managers use a blend of upskilling, reskilling, and hiring to future-proof their workforce, improve retention, and drive business success.