Kahoot!’s annual report on challenges and opportunities in the workplace highlights the urgent need for flexible, engaging upskilling solutions to meet the demands of tomorrow.
46% of workers fear skill obsolescence
within 5 years
Time constraints and irrelevant training remain major hurdles to upskilling
Only 4% believe generative AI makes engagement in training less important
Work is rapidly changing. Employees need training that can help them ride the wave.
Experts have long warned of a growing global skills gap in the workforce, especially over the last decade as advancements in technology, such as AI, have accelerated. In this 2024 edition of the Kahoot! Workplace Culture Report—based on a survey of over 1,000 office workers across industries—we see that employees are now increasingly feeling the pressure of these shifting industry demands and recognize the urgent need to upskill to stay competitive.
However, workers also point to a number of significant obstacles to successfully upskilling, from time constraints and task overload to irrelevant and unengaging training. How are these challenges getting in the way of employees achieving their learning goals, and how can employers start breaking down these barriers to deliver the training workers need?
Read on for actionable insights to start transforming your training strategy, embed learning into your company culture, and empower employees to step confidently into the future of work.
Tips from the Kahoot! team
Rethink how you prioritize training
Take advantage of technology, but stay focused on engagement
Boost motivation for learning with employee recognition
Nearly half of employees believe their skills will be obsolete within 5 years
As advancements in technology transform business and work, many employees foresee that their job skills will see a shortened shelf life. This is sparking employees’ concerns about job security and the potential for disruptions from the rapid evolution of AI, as well as the challenge of limited time to spend developing new skills.
Among workers surveyed, 74% report that they worry about skill obsolescence, and 46% expect their current skills will no longer be useful in 5 years or less. Gen Z employees are the most worried about their skills becoming obsolete within the next 3 years (39%), coinciding with the increasing automation of tasks normally done by entry-level workers.
When you worry about your current skills becoming obsolete, what time frame are you most worried about?
46% – Within 5 years.
18% – Within 2-3 years.
11% – Within 1 year.
Time pressures and task overload are top obstacles to successful upskilling
For nearly half of employees (47%), time constraints rank as the #1 barrier to upskilling, underscoring the difficulty many face in balancing their longer-term learning needs and everyday job responsibilities. The result? A workforce under strain: 74% report fatigue, with 34% feeling completely drained by their current workloads. The constant demand for learning only adds to this pressure, as one-third of employees report feeling overwhelmed by the amount of training required to stay effective in their roles.
Training time may not all be well-spent either, as 36% say it lacks relevance to them. At the same time, 47% report that frequent context switching leaves them struggling to focus as they juggle competing tasks. People who say they worry about their skills becoming obsolete within the next year are also the most exhausted or drained at work, highlighting the impact of adequate learning opportunities on employee wellbeing.
What factors contribute most to your feelings of fatigue during learning and upskilling activities?
Top 3
Time constraints (47%)
Lack of relevance (36%)
Volume of training (30%)
Tips from the Kahoot! team
When asked what would help them balance learning with job tasks, respondents’ top 2 answers were: 1) flexible schedules that allow for personalized learning times, and 2) dedicated time for learning integrated into the workday. How can companies achieve this?
Microlearning: Create bite-sized learning moments any employee can fit into their schedule and complete at their own pace.
Weave learning into the flow of work: integrate learning into meetings, presentations, events, and more, without employees needing to take extra time to complete a training.
Gamify learning to create experiences that energize and engage, offering a welcome break from more draining work activities. Friendly competition/game-based learning is also Gen Z’s top choice for methods that would make them feel more engaged in learning at work!
Learning is its own reward, but employees need recognition too
46%
say their companies fail to acknowledge or reward their learning achievements.
90%
say they would be more inclined to upskill if their efforts were recognized.
Despite employees’ efforts to upskill, their hard work often goes unrecognized. Nearly half of employees surveyed say their learning efforts go unnoticed or unrewarded by their company, leaving employees struggling to stay motivated.
The lack of recognition is not felt equally across departments—while 69% of IT workers feel rewarded for their learning, only 39% of those in Operations say the same. Moreover, men are more likely than women to feel recognized for their upskilling efforts, underscoring a disparity in how learning achievements are valued across the workforce.
On the other hand, an overwhelming 90% say recognition would in fact make them want to invest more time in upskilling. This shows a significant opportunity to boost motivation in training across a company’s workforce by creating a culture of celebrating learning.
“The last winner of our regional Kahoot! tournament got a huge motivational boost at work, thanks to the recognition of his colleagues. That’s bigger than any physical award we can give to them.”
—Carmen Salcido, Project Leader at Coppel
Engagement remains crucial for effective learning in the age of AI-assisted training
AI-enhanced tools have taken the L&D field by storm, enabling trainers to save valuable time on creating learning content and delivering training experiences. However, employees confirm that engagement should still be a top priority for trainers.
Nearly half (46%) of workers find corporate training boring, and 37% say it’s delivered in an unengaging way. Similarly, 36% of employees feel their employers are struggling to keep up with the pace of changes in learning technologies. This suggests that many companies may not yet be utilizing AI and other technology in the most effective ways for learning.
Despite AI’s rapid advancement, only 4% of employees believe it makes meaningful engagement in training less important. In fact, 43% say it’s even more important to focus on engagement when creating or delivering training with AI, highlighting the demand for human-centered learning experiences, even when supported by technology.
Do you think trainers should be more, less, or equally focused on making training engaging when creating or delivering it with AI?
Equally focused – 53%
More focused – 43%
Less focused – 4%
Tips from the Kahoot! team
Enjoy the time-saving benefits of AI and elevate engagement at the same time with our AI-enhanced kahoot generator that allows you to instantly create engaging and interactive presentations by simply entering a topic, uploading a PDF, or importing slides from your presentation software. You can also instantly transform PDFs into our interactive microlearning format: story.
Employees must be empowered to be independent and collaborative learners
Coaching and mentorship ranked in employees’ top 3 methods to make them feel more engaged in learning at work, but is the traditional way of delivering this realistic for most companies today? While most teams would likely wish to provide each employee with the guidance of a personal mentor who could help them reach their full potential at work, the reality is that 53% of employees say that training mentors are rarely or never accessible.
However, alternative approaches that emphasize collaboration or self-directed learning can empower employees to take charge of their own learning journey, focusing on what they most need or want to learn, and creating a more interactive and engaging experience for themselves and their coworkers.
How accessible are mentors or coaches in your organization to support your learning journey?
17% Extremely accessible
30% Very accessible
38% Somewhat/Hardly accessible
15% Not at all accesible
Tips from the Kahoot! team
As an alternative—or addition—to designated coaches/mentors, peer-to-peer learning can offer employees valuable knowledge and support. Companies can begin fostering collaborative learning by setting aside times for employees to connect and exchange information or ideas, as well as providing resources and tools to share knowledge quickly, easily, and in engaging ways. Start with Kahoot!’s brainstorming template or learn more about how to level up brainstorms and workshops with Kahoot!.
On -demand learning contentis also an important solution, by making it easy for employees to access the information they need, when they need it, through engaging learning experiences. Discover how you can get new employees up to speed fast by onboarding with Kahoot!.
This survey was conducted online within the United States by market-research consultancy Researchscape on behalf of Kahoot! from August
26 to September 3, 2024. A total of 1,041 full time office workers from selected industries including technology, healthcare and financial services participated in the survey. For more questions on the research, please contact press@kahoot.com
“The last winner of our regional Kahoot! tournament got a huge motivational boost at work, thanks to the recognition of his colleagues. That’s bigger than any physical award we can give to them.”