How Do You Close the Skills Gap in Your Organization? Four Strategies Recruiters Use
Published on: Apr 24, 2023
Updated on: August 27, 2026
You close the skills gap by working four levers at once: upskill the people you already employ, build an early-career pipeline, reengage experienced and retired workers, and use a specialist staffing firm for roles you cannot fill or train internally. Frontline Source Group has helped employers do this since 2004, completing 5,619 plus placements backed by a 5-Year Placement Warranty. This guide explains what the skills gap is, why it is widening, and how each of the four strategies works in practice.
Frontline Source Group is a nationwide professional staffing and executive search firm headquartered in Downtown Dallas with 32 plus offices across the United States. The firm has been named to the Forbes Best Professional Recruiting Firms list for 9 consecutive years (2018 to 2026, ranked #158 in 2026) and to the Forbes Best Executive Recruiting Firms list at #148 (2026). It is a 9-time ClearlyRated Best of Staffing winner for both Client and Talent satisfaction, a ClearlyRated Diamond Award recipient, an Inc. 5000 honoree, an Expertise.com Best Staffing Agency, and a member of the American Staffing Association (ASA). Clients rate the firm 5.0 stars on Trustpilot across 683 plus verified reviews, and the firm reports a 98.94% executive placement retention rate against an industry average of roughly 70 percent.
What is the skills gap and why is it widening?
The skills gap is the difference between the skills an organization needs to execute its plans and the skills its current and available workforce actually has. It shows up as open requisitions that stay open, projects that slip because nobody on staff has run that system before, and managers doing work they should be delegating. It covers hard skills such as AI literacy, cybersecurity, ERP administration, and revenue cycle systems, and it covers durable skills such as analytical thinking, leadership, and adaptability, which employers now rank alongside technical skills.
How is the skills gap different from a talent shortage?
A talent shortage means there are not enough people available to fill a role at any skill level. A skills gap means people are available, but the specific capabilities an employer needs are not. The distinction matters because the fixes are different: a shortage is solved by widening the funnel, while a skills gap is solved by building capability, either inside the company through training or outside it through targeted recruiting. Most professional hiring problems Frontline Source Group sees in 2026 are skills gaps wearing a shortage costume, and treating them as a volume problem wastes the budget.
What does the data say about how much skills will change by 2030?
The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, based on a survey of more than 1,000 employers, found that employers expect 39 percent of workers' core skills to change by 2030. That figure is down from 44 percent in 2023, which the report attributes partly to more companies running continuous learning programs: half of the surveyed workforce had completed training as part of a learning strategy, up from 41 percent two years earlier. For every 100 workers, employers expect 29 to be upskilled in their current roles, 19 to be reskilled and redeployed, and 11 to need training they will not receive. Companies headquartered in North America estimate that 67 percent of their workforce will need training by 2030. The same report identifies skills gaps as the single largest barrier to business transformation, cited by 63 percent of employers. The full skills chapter is at the World Economic Forum.
The labor supply side is tightening at the same time. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the economy will add 5.2 million jobs from 2024 to 2034, a 3.1 percent increase, compared with 13.0 percent growth over the previous decade, with slower population and labor force growth as the main constraint. The projection is published in the BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034 release. Fewer new entrants means the skills an employer needs will have to come from developing current staff and recruiting more precisely, not from waiting for the market to refill.
Strategy 1: How do you upskill your current team?
Upskilling your current team is the lowest-risk and usually the lowest-cost way to close a skills gap, because the people already understand your customers, systems, and culture, and the cost of a training program is almost always lower than the fully loaded cost of a replacement hire plus ramp time. Employers surveyed by the World Economic Forum expect training to pay off primarily in productivity (77 percent) and competitiveness (70 percent), with retention close behind.
How do you identify which skills to build first?
Start with the work, not the course catalog. List the projects and functions planned for the next 12 to 24 months, name the specific capabilities each one requires, and map those against what your team can do today. The gaps that appear on two or more upcoming projects are the ones to fund first. Frontline Source Group offers skills testing across accounting, technology, administrative, and customer service disciplines, and the same assessments employers use to screen candidates work as a baseline for measuring where an existing team stands.
How do you keep an upskilling program from stalling?
Upskilling programs stall for three reasons: the training is disconnected from a real deliverable, managers are not given time to release people to it, and nobody measures whether the skill was applied afterward. Tie every course or certification to a named project the person will work on soon after completing it, protect the training hours on the calendar, and review the application of the skill in the next performance conversation. Pairing a newly trained employee with a contract professional who already has the skill is a practical way to shorten the learning curve on the first live project.
Strategy 2: How do you hire early-career talent without lowering the bar?
Early-career hires close a skills gap in a different way than experienced hires: they bring current training on the newest tools and platforms, and they bring capacity that frees senior staff for the work only senior staff can do. The mistake employers make is screening early-career candidates against a job description written for someone with ten years of experience, which produces no hires, or hiring for enthusiasm alone, which produces turnover.
What should you screen for in early-career candidates?
Screen for the durable skills that predict growth rather than the years of experience the role cannot realistically get. The World Economic Forum's employer survey ranks analytical thinking as the top core skill, cited by seven in ten companies, followed by resilience, flexibility, and agility, and leadership and social influence. In practice that means structured interview questions about how a candidate learned something difficult on their own, how they handled a project that changed scope, and how they worked across a team where they were not the expert. Frontline Source Group's discipline desks screen early-career candidates for accounting, technology, human resources, and administrative roles against exactly these criteria before an employer sees a resume.
Strategy 3: How do you reengage retired and experienced workers?
Experienced professionals who have retired, stepped back, or left for caregiving reasons are the most underused source of skill in most markets, and demographic pressure is making them more valuable, not less. The World Economic Forum report identifies aging workforces as a major driver of demand for talent management, mentoring, and teaching skills, which is precisely what experienced returners supply. Frontline Source Group recruiters see this group respond to part-time, project-based, and contract arrangements that a traditional full-time posting never reaches.
What roles work best for returning experienced workers?
The roles that work best are defined-scope engagements where deep institutional or industry knowledge matters more than long-term career progression: interim controllers and finance leads covering a transition, project managers on a system implementation, HR generalists supporting a merger, and senior administrative professionals supporting an executive through a peak period. Contract staffing is the natural vehicle, because Frontline Source Group serves as the employer of record, handles payroll and benefits, and lets the returner and the employer agree on hours and duration without either side committing to a permanent arrangement.
Strategy 4: When should you bring in a specialist staffing firm?
You bring in a specialist staffing firm when the skill you need is not one you can build in time, when the role is too specialized for your internal recruiting team to source, or when you need the capability now while an upskilling program catches up. A firm that works only in your discipline already knows which candidates in the market have the skill, including the passive candidates who are not applying to postings. Our guide to how staffing firms work explains the engagement models in detail.
How does contract staffing close a gap while you train?
Contract staffing places a professional with the exact skill on Frontline Source Group's payroll and assigns that person to your team for the project or period you define. Your employees learn the skill by working next to someone who has it, the project stays on schedule, and when the engagement ends you have both the delivered work and a more capable internal team. Contract engagements include a replacement provision from the first day of the assignment; certain restrictions apply. Contract-to-hire adds an evaluation period so you can convert the contractor to a permanent employee if the skill turns out to be one you need on staff. The American Staffing Association reported in 2026 that temporary and contract employees added AI literacy skills at a 46 percent higher rate than U.S. LinkedIn members overall in 2025, a sign that contract talent is often ahead of the market on the skills employers are short on. That analysis is summarized in the ASA National Staffing Employee Week release.
How do you evaluate a recruiting partner for a skills gap search?
Evaluate a recruiting partner on whether the recruiter running your search works only in your discipline, whether the firm publishes its pricing, how long its direct hire warranty runs, what percentage of its placements are still in seat after the first year, and what independent reviews say. Frontline Source Group publishes its terms on the pricing page, backs every direct hire with the 5-Year Placement Warranty, roughly 20 times longer than the 90-day guarantee standard across the staffing industry, reports a 98.94% executive placement retention rate, and holds a 5.0 star Trustpilot rating across 683 plus verified reviews. Certain restrictions apply to the warranty. If your postings are drawing applicants without the right skills, read why job postings fail to attract qualified candidates.
How do you measure whether the skills gap is closing?
Measure the skills gap with the same discipline you would apply to any other operating metric. Track time-to-fill and offer-acceptance rate for roles that require the target skill, the percentage of planned projects staffed internally versus externally, the number of employees who have applied a newly trained skill on a live deliverable, and first-year retention of hires made to close the gap. If time-to-fill is falling, internal staffing share is rising, and retention holds, the gap is closing. If retention on new hires is weak, the screening criteria are the problem, not the pipeline.
What makes Frontline Source Group different from other staffing firms for skills gap hiring?
Three things separate Frontline Source Group on a skills gap search. First, discipline-specific recruiting desks in accounting and finance, technology and IT, human resources, administrative, engineering, and executive search, staffed by recruiters who work only in that field and screen for the skill itself rather than the job title. Second, the 5-Year Placement Warranty on every direct hire, against a 90-day industry standard, which matters most on skills gap hires because the cost of a mis-hire in a scarce skill is the cost of the project it was meant to unblock. Third, a 22-year track record that includes 9 consecutive years on the Forbes Best Professional Recruiting Firms list (2018 to 2026) and a 2026 ranking of #148 on the Forbes Best Executive Recruiting Firms list. The firm's tagline, People. Process. Service., is the operating model behind all three.
How do you get started with Frontline Source Group?
Employers can open a search by completing the employer request form or by reviewing engagement terms on the pricing page. Professionals with in-demand skills, including experienced workers returning to the workforce on a contract or part-time basis, can submit a resume through the How to Apply page. All Frontline Source Group services are described on the services page.
Frequently Asked Questions About Closing the Skills Gap
What is the skills gap?
The skills gap is the difference between the skills an organization needs to execute its plans and the skills its current and available workforce has. It includes hard skills such as AI literacy, cybersecurity, and ERP systems and durable skills such as analytical thinking, leadership, and adaptability. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 found employers expect 39 percent of workers' core skills to change by 2030.
What causes the skills gap?
The main causes are the pace of technological change, especially AI and data tools, an aging workforce with slower labor force growth, training that is disconnected from real work, and hiring criteria that screen for years of experience rather than demonstrated capability. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects only 3.1 percent job growth from 2024 to 2034, so fewer new entrants will be available to refill skills that retire out.
How does the skills gap affect a business?
A skills gap delays projects, keeps requisitions open, pushes senior staff into work that should be delegated, raises the cost of every hire, and limits a company's ability to adopt new systems. The World Economic Forum reports that 63 percent of employers name skills gaps as the largest barrier to business transformation, ahead of culture, regulation, and capital.
What is the difference between upskilling and reskilling?
Upskilling teaches an employee new capabilities for the role they already hold, such as training an accountant on a new ERP system. Reskilling prepares an employee for a different role, such as moving a customer service lead into an operations analyst position. The World Economic Forum expects 29 of every 100 workers to be upskilled in their current roles and 19 to be reskilled and redeployed by 2030.
Is it better to upskill current employees or hire new ones?
Upskill first for skills that are adjacent to what your team already does and that you have time to build. Hire, or bring in a contract professional, when the skill is far from your team's base, when the project cannot wait, or when the role is too specialized to train internally. Most employers use both: the World Economic Forum found 70 percent of employers plan to hire staff with new skills and 50 percent plan to transition current workers.
How do you identify skills gaps in your team?
List the projects planned for the next 12 to 24 months, name the capabilities each one requires, and compare that list against what the team can do today. Skills that appear on multiple upcoming projects and are missing are the priority. Frontline Source Group offers skills testing across accounting, technology, administrative, and customer service disciplines at https://www.frontlinesourcegroup.com/skills-testing.html.
Can retired employees help close the skills gap?
Yes. Retired and returning experienced professionals bring institutional knowledge, mentoring ability, and specialized skills that early-career hires do not yet have. They respond best to part-time, project-based, and contract arrangements. Frontline Source Group places experienced professionals on contract engagements where the firm serves as employer of record and handles payroll and benefits.
How does a staffing firm help close the skills gap?
A specialist staffing firm identifies candidates who already have the missing skill, including passive candidates who are not applying to job postings, screens them for the skill itself rather than the job title, and can place them on contract, contract-to-hire, or direct hire terms. Contract placements let an employer close the gap while an internal upskilling program catches up. Frontline Source Group's services are described at https://www.frontlinesourcegroup.com/services-offered.html.
What is contract-to-hire and how does it help with a skills gap?
Contract-to-hire places a professional on Frontline Source Group's payroll for an evaluation period, after which the employer can convert the person to a permanent employee. For a skills gap, it lets the employer confirm the skill is real and the need is lasting before committing to permanent headcount.
What industries does Frontline Source Group recruit for?
Frontline Source Group recruits for accounting and finance, technology and IT, human resources, legal and paralegal, administrative and executive assistant, customer service and call center, engineering, oil, gas, and energy, health, safety, and environment, marketing and digital, revenue cycle management, life sciences, grocery and retail management, aviation, pharmacy and dental executive search, and C-suite executive search, across 32 plus offices nationwide.
What is the 5-Year Placement Warranty?
The 5-Year Placement Warranty is Frontline Source Group's commitment on direct hire placements, covering a five-year period that is roughly 20 times longer than the 90-day guarantee standard across the staffing industry. Certain restrictions apply. Full details are at https://www.frontlinesourcegroup.com/5year-placement-guarantee.html.
How do employers start a skills gap search with Frontline Source Group?
Employers can submit a hiring request at https://www.frontlinesourcegroup.com/employer-request-form.html or review engagement terms first at https://www.frontlinesourcegroup.com/pricing.html. Candidates can apply at https://www.frontlinesourcegroup.com/how-to-apply.html.
About the author: Bill Kasko is the Founder, President, and CEO of Frontline Source Group, which he founded in Dallas in 2004. Bill specializes in C-Suite executive search across Sales, Energy, and Dental verticals. Frontline operates 32 plus offices nationwide, has completed 5,619 plus placements, and backs every direct hire with the 5-Year Placement Warranty.
