1 in 3 UK business leaders fear they are falling behind in the race to achieve innovation and train their staff in key data skills

Global technology giant @Alteryx, is releasing new research revealing that UK business leaders fear they are falling behind in the race to achieve innovation and train their staff in key data skills. 

The report, which sampled 1,000 UK workers (and a further 2,000 across Europe), shows that:  

• one in three (32%) senior business leaders believe their organisation is “falling behind” compared to their competition. 
• 39% of these executives feel “overwhelmed” by the things they are “supposed to learn” to turn data into business-changing insights.   
• Meanwhile, half (48%) of data workers are unable to upskill at all due to being “pulled in to day-to-day tasks”, and one in four (26%) do not know where to start.    

This research comes at an awkward time for the government as it is trying to define its “levelling up” agenda and address the skill gaps between regions in the UK. This lack of knowledge and skills inflation is stalling critical business transformation efforts across the UK. While the historic digital skills gap centred on a lack of hireable talent, we now see this directly impacting business confidence.