Report Reveals Almost Half of Employees Are Willing to Quit Jobs Due to Lack of Development Opportunities

The real price of the skills gap 

The lack of learning and development (L&D) within businesses is having a tangible impact on their bottom line; it's not only slowing down their development but also costing them thousands in lost revenue. This, in turn is having a huge impact on the UK economy. 

“Failing to offer meaningful upskilling isn’t just a retention headache; it’s an anchor dragging down economic performance. 

This development gap is already costing the UK economy up to £39 billion a year in lost productivity. When you factor in the digital skills gap, that figure swells to a staggering £63 billion in lost GDP annually. Businesses that don’t invest in their people are now paying a high price for standing still.” 

Cornerstone’s Skills Economy Report 2026 revealed that AI and machine learning demand surged by +245% in 2025, overtaking communication as the most requested skill worldwide for the first time in a decade, but how many businesses are actually investing in upskilling their staff?  

UK business want the skills, but won’t train their employees 

Workers are left feeling vulnerable in an ever-changing tech landscape. Arden’s report highlights that 64% of employees believe that gaining technical or AI-related skills would offer them a powerful advantage in their professional lives.  

Yet, astonishingly, 31% felt unprepared or undecided about how they will cope with imminent industry changes, such as the rapid rise of AI. 

With 80% of employers admitting they’re struggling to find candidates with the right skills, it raises the question as to why businesses aren’t utilising their current workforce to increase and improve productivity. This is especially important when Cornerstone reported that workers are spending 50% more time learning compared to the previous year, showing a willingness for professional development.  

“The future of work will not be defined by disruption but by how we build the capacity to learn through it. Those who act now to invest in workforce intelligence, redesign learning systems, and scale access to opportunity will set the pace for the next decade of growth.”

Building and supporting a resilient workforce 

It is imperative that businesses start to look inwards and grow their existing workforce, investing in intelligence that reveals emerging skills gaps early, then act on these insights. Skills must be seen as a growth asset to invest in with budgets assigned to them.  

It’s not just technical skills that need investment, as tech roles develop; the need for soft skills like communication, empathy and people management also need to grow. To upskill your teams effectively, you need to use hands-on, project-based learning that emulates real-life situations and converts education into experiences.