2019 Global Skills Gap Report

2019 GLOBAL SKILLS GAP
REPORT
BASED ON RESULTS FROM THE QS GLOBAL EMPLOYER SURVEY

2019 Global Skills Gap Report
CONTENTS
About the Global Skills Gap Report 3
Executive Summary 4
Global Overview 5
Country Breakdown
• Australia 11
• Brazil 12
• Egypt 13
• Japan 14
• Russia 15
• UK 16
• US 17
Industry Breakdown
• Finance 18
• Health 19
• Law 20
• Manufacturing 21
• Retail wholesale 22
• Technology 23
Conclusion 24
Methodology 25
About QS 26
Contributors 27
2
INTRODUCTION
The 2019 Global Skills Gap Report delves into the The report will delve into how the skills gap
complex relationship between graduate skills and manifests globally, observing recruitment priorities
employer expectations across the global labor and the satisfaction of employers, alongside a
market. breakdown of how perceptions differ between
countries and industries. Such insight can be
Drawing on data and insights from the QS Global
harnessed by employers, universities, and students
Employer Survey 2019 and the QS Applicant Survey
who wish to prepare strategically for post-graduate
2019, this report reveals the key graduate skills
employment.
gaps that are plaguing employers around the world.
Both of these QS research surveys are conducted
annually, collating and comparing insights from
thousands of students and employers worldwide.
Based on these responses and our analysis,

universities can explore areas of improvement,
reflect on the responsibilities they hold to prepare
graduates for the world of work, and identify where
this ends and employer training begins.
14,000+ 144
respondents locations
3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 2019 Global Skills Gap Report aims to provide Divergences amongst countries and industries:
universities, employers, and students with a greater • The US presents the narrowest skills gap
understanding of the gaps between graduate skills amongst the countries analyzed.
and employer expectations around the world.
• Resilience remains the widest skill gap in
In this report, we will examine the findings on a Australia.
global scale, before breaking it down and examining
• There is a growing demand for graduates with
the key insights from a range of countries and
data skills in the health/medical industry.
industries. To summarize, here are some of the key
findings from this year’s report: • Legal employers are generally more satisfied
than employers from other industries.
Skills gaps prevail: • Creativity is the second biggest gap in the
• Problem solving, resilience, and communication technology sector.
remain the top three skills gaps in this year’s
report.
Read on to discover more insights from the 2019
• The most important skills are problem solving,
Global Skills Gap Report.
communication, and teamwork.
• Employers are the least satisfied with
negotiating skills, leadership, and commercial
awareness.
Students perception on what skills employers are

looking for:
• The top three employer priorities are aligned
with students’ perception.
• The skills students underestimate are data skills
and resilience.
• The skills students overestimate are creativity,
leadership, and language skills.
4
GLOBAL OVERVIEW
Understanding the global skills gap involves gap and the mismatch between employer and
identifying the trends that continually repeat graduate expectations, and to provide valuable
themselves in different contexts worldwide. Many insights to universities who might seek to bridge
employers identify the same valuable skills and this gap.
skills shortages in graduates across industries and
countries. This helps us build a picture of the skills
GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF CORE SKILLS: GAP VALUES

CALCULATED BY THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IMPORTANCE AND SATISFACTION SCORES
Commercial Problem
awareness solving
2 32
Technical
skills Resilience
7 24
Language Communication
skills
24
10
Negotiating
Creativity
skills
12 23
Subject
Data skills
knowledge
13 22
Flexibility/
Teamwork
adaptability
16
21
Interpersonal Leadership
skills 21
Organizational
18 skills
19
Importance scores Satisfaction scores Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019
5
Which are the most important skills?
GLOBAL IMPORTANCE SCORES: 2019 VERSUS 2018
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Problem solving 0
Communication 0
Teamwork 0
Flexibility/adaptability 1
Interpersonal skills 0
Data skills -1
Resilience 0
Organizational skills 0
Creativity 2
Subject knowledge 1
Technical skills 0
Leadership 0
Language skills 0
Negotiating skills -1
Commercial awareness 3
2019 2018 Swing Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019
Employers’ perceptions of the most important skills Creativity switched positions with technical skills,
had little variation to last year’s results. with the former going up two positions, and the later
going down from 9th to 11th.
Problem solving, communication, and teamwork
remain the three most important skills, according to Though commercial awareness remains the least
employers globally, with only a decimal difference prioritized skill, it did see an increase in perceived
between communication and teamwork. importance with a 3-point growth on its importance
score.
6
Satisfaction with skills
GLOBAL SATISFACTION SCORES: 2019 VERSUS 2018
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Teamwork -1
Technical skills 0
Interpersonal skills -2
Flexibility/adaptability 0
Communication 1
Subject knowledge -4
Organizational skills -2
Data skills -3
Problem solving -3
Language skills -3
Resilience 5
Creativity -3
Negotiating skills 0
Leadership -4
Commercial awareness -1
2019 2018 Swing Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019
Subject knowledge and leadership have each seen a The skills which employers are most satisfied with
4-point decrease in satisfaction scores in relation to are teamwork, technical skills, and interpersonal
last year. skills.
However, there was an increase in the satisfaction The skills which employers are the least satisfied
score for resilience, rising from a global average of with are negotiating skills, leadership, and
58 to 63 this year. commercial awareness.
7
Which skills display the biggest gaps?
GAP VALUES IN EACH OF THE CORE SKILLS
Problem solving
Resilience
Communication
Creativity
Data skills
Flexibility/adaptability
Leadership
Organizational skills
Interpersonal skills
Teamwork
Subject knowledge
Negotiating skills
Language skills
Technical skills
Commercial awareness
Gap value Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019
Problem solving is considered the widest skill gap, Other soft skills that reported significant skills
followed by resilience and communication skills, gaps include creativity, flexibility/adaptability, and
repeating the top three skills gaps from last year’s leadership skills.
report.
This emphasis on soft skills suggests that graduates

may be overlooking essential soft skill development
when undertaking their degree.
8
Student versus employer expectations
IMPORTANCE OF CORE SKILLS: EMPLOYER EXPECTATIONS VERSUS STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS
RANK OF RANK OF
EMPLOYERS IMPORTANCE STUDENTS ACCURACY STUDENTS EXPECTATIONS
1 Problem solving 0 Problem solving 1
2 Communication 0 Communication 2
3 Teamwork 0 Teamwork 3
4 Flexibility/adaptability -1 Flexibility/adaptability 5
5 Interpersonal skills -2 Interpersonal skills 7
6 Data skills -6 Data skills 12
7 Resilience -6 Resilience 13
8 Organizational skills -1 Organizational skills 9
9 Creativity 3 Creativity 6
10 Subject knowledge -1 Subject knowledge 11
11 Technical skills 1 Technical skills 10
12 Leadership 8 Leadership 4
13 Language skills 5 Language skills 8
14 Negotiating skills 0 Negotiating skills 14
15 Commercial awareness 0 Commercial awareness 15
Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019
9
We asked employers to rank the importance The skills which students are most likely to
of skills sought in future graduate hires, whilst underestimate are data skills and resilience, placing
students were asked to share which skills they think them in 12th and 13th place respectively.
employers value the most in new recruits.
In contrast, employers place these skills in 4th
One of the main aims of this report is to showcase and 5th place, thus demonstrating the disconnect
that there can be a mismatch between student between student and employer expectations.
and employer expectations around which skills are Students worldwide are also likely to overestimate
valued the most. creativity, leadership, and language skills, whilst
employers rank these lower than student
Arguably, such contradictions contribute to the
expectations.
existence of a skills gap, as graduates focus on honing
skills which could be less relevant to employers. A lack of knowledge and communication between
students and employers is likely driving these
The insight offered here can help to bridge this gap,
skills gaps. Whilst this falls on both students and
educating both students and institutions who may
employers to fix, educators do have a responsibility
want to take note about which skills they should be
to communicate what skills students should be
cultivating in their students.
developing whilst at university. Part of the issue is
likely attributable to the fact that some highly valued
Students underestimate important skills skills are not necessarily teachable, instead they’re
developed over time during one’s professional life.
Problem solving, communication, and teamwork
are each skills which students and employers view
in alignment, with both groups attributing the same
high level of importance. This is promising, given
that they both regard them as the top three most
important skills.
POSITIVE ALIGNMENT ON SKILLS STUDENTS SKILLS STUDENTS

MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS UNDERESTIMATE OVERESTIMATE
Problem solving Data skills Creativity
Communication Resilience Leadership
Teamwork Language skills
10
COUNTRY BREAKDOWN
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: AUSTRALIA

Skills ordered by gap value
Resilience 54 97
Communication 69 100
Problem solving 69 99
Flexibility/adaptability 72 96
Commercial awareness 35 57
Organizational skills 71 92
Teamwork 76 97
Interpersonal skills 76 97
Leadership 57 74
Data skills 73 90
Subject knowledge 69 83
Technical skills 84 92
Creativity 70 69
Negotiating skills 65 61
Language skills 70 65
MOST IMPORTANT TOP THREE EMPLOYERS ARE THE

SKILLS SKILLS GAPS LEAST SATISFIED WITH
Communication Resilience Commercial awareness
Problem solving Communication Resilience
Teamwork Problem-solving Leadership
Interpersonal skills
Resilience
Resilience is a particularly relevant skill for the most important skills for Australian employers.
Australian market, since Australian employers
Commercial awareness is the skill in which
attribute more importance to this skill and are less
Australian employers are the least satisfied with,
satisfied with it in comparison to global averages.
presenting a satisfaction score of 35, which is 19
Other significant skills gaps include communication points lower than the global score of 54.
and problem solving, which are considered the two
11
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: BRAZIL

Leadership 48 84
Communication 63 95
Teamwork 65 94
Data skills 61 89
Creativity 62 90
Resilience 60 87

Problem solving Problem solving Problem solving
Communication Leadership Commercial awareness
Interpersonal skills Communication Leadership
By far, the biggest graduate skills gap in Brazil is Although leadership is considered the 12th most
problem solving with a gap value of 45, much wider important skill, it is the skill Brazilians are the least
than the global score of 32 in this skill. satisfied with, putting it as the second widest skills
gap.
Brazil also presents an average satisfaction score
of 61, which is lower than the global average of 66.
The only two skills with satisfaction scores higher
than the global scores are creativity and subject
knowledge, which can be seen as strengths of the
Brazilian graduate market.
12
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: EGYPT

Leadership 70 86
Creativity 79 95
Communication 81 97
Data skills 73 87
Teamwork 82 95
Resilience 77 87

Communication Problem solving Leadership
Technical skills Leadership Negotiating skills
Teamwork Creativity Commercial awareness
Employers in Egypt show higher overall satisfaction The top three skills gaps in Egypt are problem
scores (77) than the global average (66). solving, leadership, and creativity. Interestingly,
Egypt is one of the countries where no commercial
The most important skills to Egyptian employers are
awareness gap is perceived.
communication, technical skills, and teamwork, with
technical skills scoring higher than the global scores.
13
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: JAPAN

Leadership 18 89
Creativity 16 86
Communication 50 97
Resilience 39 79
Data skills 40 77
Teamwork 66 95

Communication Problem solving Negotiating skills
Flexibility/adaptability Leadership Leadership
Problem solving Creativity Creativity
Japanese employers presented very low satisfaction importance scores in this country when compared
with graduate skills overall, hitting an average to global trends.
overall score of 39, against a global average of 66.
The wide gap scores are associated with the low
Those results are likely to be reflective of the high satisfaction scores given by this country, with
expectations of employers in this market, since the top three skills gaps being problem solving,
Japanese universities have a strong reputation for leadership, and creativity.
employability outcomes.
Relatively high satisfaction scores are seen
The four most important skills are communication, for teamwork, organizational skills, flexibility/
flexibility/adaptability, problem solving, and adaptability, and technical skills, indicating key
interpersonal skills, with commercial awareness, strengths in this market.
leadership, and negotiating skills presenting higher
14
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: RUSSIA

Data skills 65 90
Teamwork 71 92
Communication 77 92
Resilience 56 68
Creativity 66 71
Leadership 53 28
Commercial awareness 51 -1

Problem solving Problem solving Language
Teamwork Depth of knowledge Commercial awareness
Communication Data skills Negotiating skills
Russian employers are expressing a narrower No gaps are identified in commercial awareness,
overall gap average score of 15, compared to last leadership, and language skills.
year where the gaps average were 17.
The biggest skills gap in Russia is problem solving,

with employers ranking it as the most important
skill but reporting low levels of satisfaction.
15
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: UK

Resilience 52 97
Communication 72 99
Data skills 62 80
Leadership 55 73
Teamwork 90 99
Creativity 66 74
MOST IMPORTANT TOP THREE EMPLOYERS ARE MOST

SKILLS SKILLS GAPS SATISFIED WITH
Teamwork Resilience Teamwork
Communication Flexibility/adaptability Interpersonal skills
Flexibility/adaptability Problem solving Organizational skills
Soft skills feature such as ability to work in a team, When compared to global satisfaction trends,
communication, and flexibility/adaptability feature UK employers show lower satisfaction scores
prominently in the importance attributed by UK for data skills, commercial awareness, flexibility/
employers. adaptability, and resilience.
However, UK employers attribute less importance In contrast, relatively high satisfaction scores were
to language skills, which may be due to the fact reported for teamwork and organizational skills.
that being proficient in English does not carry a
Resilience is considered the biggest skill gap, with
competitive advantage as it is the case in many other
21 points more than the global gap value, indicative
countries and the importance of other languages is
of a critical gap in this category.
on average not recognised as very important.
16
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: US

Communication 81 96
Leadership 75 88
Data skills 78 90
Resilience 77 88
Teamwork 87 95
Creativity 75 79

Communication Communication Technical skills
Problem solving Flexibility/adaptability Teamwork
Teamwork Problem solving Subject knowledge
This skills gap in the United States is markedly commercial awareness, and negotiating skills are
narrow compared to global scores, highlighting the on the other end of the chart, exceeding employers’
relatively high satisfaction of employers with the expectations.
skills of graduates. Moreover, satisfaction scores
Soft skills such as communication, problem solving,
are equal or higher than the global averages for
and teamwork also top the chart in terms of relative
every individual skill.
importance. In a global comparison, there is also a
Soft skills such as communication and flexibility/ notably higher importance attributed to leadership
adaptability fall short of employers’ expectations by employers in the United States.
while other soft skills such as language skills,
17
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: FINANCE

Creativity 57 79
Communication 74 95
Resilience 66 86
Data skills 71 90
Leadership 59 75
Teamwork 80 96

Problem solving Problem solving Commercial awareness
Teamwork Creativity Leadership
Communication Communication Creativity
The top three skills gaps in the finance/banking When compared against global averages, financial
industry are problem solving, creativity, and employers place less importance on technical skills
communication. with a score of 77 compared to the global score of 83,
and they attribute more importance to commercial
Even though creativity is considered only the 10th
awareness at 68 compared to the global score of 56.
most important skill in this industry, its third position
in the list of skills gaps indicates the low satisfaction
scores from employers.
18
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: HEALTH / MEDICAL

Resilience 67 94
Communication 72 97
Data skills 65 87
Leadership 62 79
Teamwork 83 97
Creativity 65 77

Teamwork Problem solving Teamwork
Flexibility/adaptability Resilience Technical skills
Problem solving Communication Interpersonal skills
Employers in the health/medical industry emulate Moreover, data skills went from the the 10th widest
global skills gap trends with problem solving skills gap last year, to the 4th widest gap in the
arising as the biggest gap between importance health/medical industry. The growing association
and satisfaction, followed by resilience and between technology and healthcare outcomes
communication skills. seems to be pushing the demand for data-savvy
professionals.
When compared to global averages, employers
in this industry have higher satisfaction scores in
almost every skill, the only exception being data
skills.
19
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: LAW

Resilience 73 93
Data skills 76 90
Leadership 67 76
Teamwork 86 96
Communication 88 96
Creativity 74 80
MOST IMPORTANT TOP THREE EMPLOYERS ARE LEAST

Teamwork Resilience Resilience
Communication Problem solving Leadership
Interpersonal skills Data skills Commercial awareness
The legal sector’s relatively narrow overall skills The largest gaps emerge with resilience, problem
gap average (10 compared to the global average of solving, and data skills, which are potential
18) is the result of a general high satisfaction with differentiators for graduates that excel in most
graduates amongst legal employers, even though sought after competencies in the market.
the expectations for law graduates remains high.
Teamwork, communication, and interpersonal skills

are considered the most important skills, all of which
are followed by satisfaction scores above 80.
20
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: MANUFACTURING

Creativity 47 84
Leadership 44 77
Resilience 52 84
Data skills 57 87
Communication 64 93
Teamwork 73 96

Teamwork Problem solving Commercial awareness
Problem solving Creativity Leadership
Communication Leadership Negotiating skills
Compared to other industries, the skills gap in the Problem solving, perceived as the second most
manufacturing sector is very wide, with employers’ important skill, presents the widest skill gap,
expectations falling short across the board. followed by creativity and leadership.
However, when compared to other skills in this
industry, ability to work in a team, interpersonal
skills, technical skills, and flexibility/adaptability
display markedly lower skills gap.
21
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: RETAIL / WHOLESALE

Data skills 54 86
Resilience 54 84
Communication 67 95
Leadership 53 75
Teamwork 73 93
Creativity 60 80
MOST IMPORTANT TOP THREE IMPORTANCE OVERCOMES

SKILLS SKILLS GAPS SATISFACTION FOR
Communication Problem solving Subject knowledge
Problem solving Negotiating skills Technical skills
Interpersonal skills Data skills
The most important skills for the retail/wholesale and thus the necessity to have professionals with
industry are communication, problem solving, and capacity to generate an online sales environment.
interpersonal skills.
The retail/wholesale industry has a wide skills gap
Other skills that stand out when compared to global overall with an average of 24 compared to the global
averages are negotiating skills and commercial average of 18.
awareness.
It is interesting to note that data skills features

amongst the top three skills gaps in the industry,
pointing to the growing importance of online sales
22
IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: TECHNOLOGY

Creativity 61 88
Communication 68 93
Resilience 60 82
Data skills 67 88
Leadership 50 67
Teamwork 82 96

SKILLS SKILLS GAPS SATISFIED WITH:
Teamwork Problem solving Technical skills
Problem solving Creativity Teamwork
Flexibility/adaptability Communication Flexibility/adaptability
Employers in the technology sector rank teamwork scores than the average.
as the most important skill they would like new
The top three skills gaps in the technology industry
graduates to possess, closely followed by problem
are problem solving, creativity, and communication.
solving skills and flexibility/adaptability.
Skills gaps which are more prevalent in this industry
When comparing against importance trends across
than others include communication, creativity,
industries, employers in this sector tend to put more
subject knowledge, flexibility/adaptability, and
emphasis on creativity and technical skills.
organizational skills.
Not only are technical skills perceived as more
important, but they also report higher satisfaction
23
CONCLUSION
The 2019 Global Skills Gap Report has revealed some Graduates can also examine their own skill sets and
intriguing skills gaps across the globe, highlighting determine the individual gaps they possess, investing
the competencies that graduates should focus their in upskilling opportunities and communicating with
efforts on. employers regularly about how they can continue to
improve.
Globally, the biggest skills gap identified by
employers is problem solving, suggesting that Through open communication and constructive
creative and proactive problem solving may be feedback, employers and universities can work
sorely lacking from new graduates. together to rectify these skills gaps and provide a
better foundation for graduates entering the world
To address this gap, higher education institutions
of work.
around the world can help students better
understand how to tackle complex problems and
find actionable solutions.
When examining skills gaps based on country or

industry, it is important that universities note
the differences revealed in this report and adjust
relevant syllabuses accordingly.
Employers also have a part to play in better

communicating their expectations and objectives
to graduates, focusing on the skills gaps they
have identified and addressing key areas for
improvement.
24
METHODOLOGY
Data sources: Rows containing the following 15 skills in

randomized order:
QS Global Employer Survey 2019:
14,000+ respondents Leadership skills; ability to work in a team;
communication skills; problem-solving skills; data
QS Applicant Survey 2019: skills; flexibility/adaptability; subject knowledge;
7,000+ respondents interpersonal skills (relates well to others); technical
skills; organizational skills; creativity; commercial
Skills questions design: awareness; resilience/dealing with conflict;
negotiating skills; and language skills.
Importance metric: Matrix table containing
columns: (A) Very Important (B) Important (C) Not To generate the satisfaction factor scores, every
Important “Very Satisfied” choice was attributed one point (1),
“Satisfied” was attributed one point (1), and “Not
Rows containing the following 15 skills in
Satisfied” received minus one point (-1). Therefore,
randomized order:
the more distant positive scores are from zero, the
Leadership skills; ability to work in a team; higher degree of satisfaction. Thus, the more distant
communication skills; problem-solving skills; data negative scores are from zero, the higher degree of
skills; flexibility/adaptability; subject knowledge; dissatisfaction.
interpersonal skills (relates well to others); technical
The skills gap metric is calculated by the numerical
skills; organizational skills; creativity; commercial
difference from importance scores to satisfaction
awareness; resilience/dealing with conflict;
scores.
negotiating skills; and language skills.
Countries were selected based on robustness of
To generate the importance factor scores, every
dataset and regional representation.
“Very Important” choice was attributed one point
(1), “Important” was attributed one point (1), and
“Not Important” received minus one point (-1).
Therefore, the distance of the score from zero
indicates the degree of importance attributed to a
skill.
Satisfaction metric: Matrix table containing

columns: (A) Very Satisfied (B) Satisfied (C) Not
Satisfied
25
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26
CONTRIBUTORS
Gabriel Maschião da Costa

Gabriel is a Research Analyst at QS Intelligence Unit. He manages the QS Global
Employer Survey from data acquisition, data analysis, and development of partnerships
to the dissemination of findings and key insights. He also runs the Latin American
Rankings analysis and helps in the implementation and improvement of internal
systems. Gabriel has a vast experience in both quantitative and qualitative research,
specializing in the fields of Economics and Psychology.
Jan Dzugan
With an academic background in international relations, Jan has developed an
extensive experience in international education research and marketing, working on a
variety of projects ranging from international student surveys and internationalization
benchmarking to operational management for clients in the UK, New Zealand,
Australia, Canada, and the United States. Jan joined QS in March, 2019 and he is
currently responsible for the academic and employer reputation insight services to
universities worldwide.
Sarah Linney
As the B2B Content Marketing Manager, Sarah is responsible for communicating the
insights, research, and market analysis that have positioned QS as a thought leader in
the higher education sector. She manages content production and execution for the
B2B marketing team, creating content for the QS.com content hub, including blogs,
white papers, reports, and other content assets.
Josephine West
Josephine is a Market Insights Researcher at QS. She works on new content in the form
of reports, articles, blog posts, conference proposals, and presentations. Josie has
extensive experience with social and qualitative research, using a variety of methods
including surveys and interviews. She is responsible for conducting the research on the
ground, running focus groups worldwide, and seeing the project through to completion,
from analysis to write up.
Georgia Philippou
Graphic designer Georgia Philippou creates innovative infographics and visualisations
based on QS’s research and rankings. Her work is featured on TopUniversities.com
and TopMBA.com, and across the company’s social media channels. Georgia is the
lead designer for a range of online publications, including a popular range of guides
for prospective students, as well as market research reports for higher education
professionals.
27
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2019 GLOBAL SKILLS GAP

BASED ON RESULTS FROM THE QS GLOBAL EMPLOYER SURVEY

About the Global Skills Gap Report 3

Based on these responses and our analysis,

Students perception on what skills employers are

GLOBAL OVERVIEW OF CORE SKILLS: GAP VALUES

Importance scores Satisfaction scores Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

Which are the most important skills?

GLOBAL IMPORTANCE SCORES: 2019 VERSUS 2018

2019 2018 Swing Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

Satisfaction with skills

GLOBAL SATISFACTION SCORES: 2019 VERSUS 2018

2019 2018 Swing Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

Which skills display the biggest gaps?

GAP VALUES IN EACH OF THE CORE SKILLS

Gap value Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

This emphasis on soft skills suggests that graduates

Student versus employer expectations

IMPORTANCE OF CORE SKILLS: EMPLOYER EXPECTATIONS VERSUS STUDENTS PERCEPTIONS

1 Problem solving 0 Problem solving 1

5 Interpersonal skills -2 Interpersonal skills 7

6 Data skills -6 Data skills 12

8 Organizational skills -1 Organizational skills 9

10 Subject knowledge -1 Subject knowledge 11

11 Technical skills 1 Technical skills 10

13 Language skills 5 Language skills 8

14 Negotiating skills 0 Negotiating skills 14

15 Commercial awareness 0 Commercial awareness 15

Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

POSITIVE ALIGNMENT ON SKILLS STUDENTS SKILLS STUDENTS

Problem solving Data skills Creativity

Communication Resilience Leadership

Teamwork Language skills

IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: AUSTRALIA

Importance scores Satisfaction scores Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

MOST IMPORTANT TOP THREE EMPLOYERS ARE THE

Communication Resilience Commercial awareness

Problem solving Communication Resilience

Teamwork Problem-solving Leadership

IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: BRAZIL

Importance scores Satisfaction scores Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

MOST IMPORTANT TOP THREE EMPLOYERS ARE THE

Problem solving Problem solving Problem solving

Communication Leadership Commercial awareness

Interpersonal skills Communication Leadership

IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: EGYPT

Importance scores Satisfaction scores Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

MOST IMPORTANT TOP THREE EMPLOYERS ARE THE

Communication Problem solving Leadership

Technical skills Leadership Negotiating skills

Teamwork Creativity Commercial awareness

IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: JAPAN

Importance scores Satisfaction scores Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

MOST IMPORTANT TOP THREE EMPLOYERS ARE THE

Communication Problem solving Negotiating skills

Flexibility/adaptability Leadership Leadership

Problem solving Creativity Creativity

IMPORTANCE VERSUS SATISFACTION SCORES: RUSSIA

Importance scores Satisfaction scores Source: QS Global Employer Survey 2019

MOST IMPORTANT TOP THREE EMPLOYERS ARE THE

Problem solving Problem solving Language

Teamwork Depth of knowledge Commercial awareness

Communication Data skills Negotiating skills

The biggest skills gap in Russia is problem solving,