The data reveals widespread talent underuse; 50% of respondents agree that their company hires externally for skills that current employees already have.

SAN FRANCISCO — TalentLMS, a leading employee training platform, today released its Skills Visibility Report, revealing a critical shift in workforce challenges. While organizations have long focused on closing skill shortages, many now face a skills visibility gap:the inability to identify and mobilize the talent they already have—turning the problem from missing talent into invisible talent. In fact, only 12% of respondents say their organization does not face skills visibility issues.

Based on a survey of 536 U.S. employees and 964 managers, the report highlights three critical gaps:

• Perception gap: 90% of managers say they have a good understanding of their direct reports’ skills, compared with 69% of employees who say their manager has a good understanding of their skills.

• Development gap: 90% of managers say they support their direct reports in developing new skills, while only 60% of employees say they receive that support from their manager.
• Utilization gap: 75% of managers say their team’s skills are fully utilized, while 49% of employees say their company underutilizes their skills.

“The gap isn’t skills—it’s visibility into them,” said Dimitris Tsingos, CEO of Epignosis, parent company of TalentLMS. “Companies are rich in talent but poor in insight. Organizations need a clear view not just of employees’ existing skills but also of their foundational knowledge, which is becoming increasingly important in the age of AI. Those that build that clarity gain speed, make smarter decisions, and unlock the full value of their workforce.”

Invisible Skills, Visible Cost

Half of respondents (50%) say their company hires externally for skills that already exist internally. At the same time, 57% of managers identify underutilized skills as the top consequence of poor visibility, and 56% cite declining team performance.

Limited visibility is also holding back employee growth. More than half of employees (56%) say their career growth is held back at least sometimes because their skills go unnoticed, and 31% say they would consider leaving their company due to a lack of skill development opportunities. At the same time, 40% of respondents report it is easier to find a new job than to move internally.

The findings also suggest that skill development is often reactive and increasingly falls on employees. Forty-two percent of employees say managers address skill gaps only when performance issues arise, while 61% of respondents say employees are expected to keep their skills up to date on their own.

Despite the clear impact on performance and retention, most organizations still lack structured approaches to skills visibility. Only 18% of respondents say their company uses a centralized system to track skills, with most relying instead on performance reviews (59%) and manager observation (56%).

To address these challenges, respondents point to practical solutions, including regular skills assessments (47%) and improved manager training to better identify and track capabilities (46%).

Read the survey: https://www.talentlms.com/research/skills-visibility-report