A company’s reputation and utilization of digital tools plays a large role in the attraction and retention of talent, according to Randstad US’s Workplace 2025: The Post-Digital Frontier study, released today. The survey found that four in 10 employees have already left a job because they didn’t have access to the latest digital tools, and 58% reported the need to seek new employment in order to secure digital skills.

Eighty percent of employee respondents identified the company’s use of the latest digital tools as the factor that would greatly influence their decision to join a company, followed by an innovative culture and the company’s reputation as a digital leader at 72% and 62% respectively.

Randstad found only 10% of enterprises are considered digitally “superior,” having fully implemented technologies like automation, artificial intelligence and collaboration tools in the workplace, as well as invested in strategies for training or reskilling workers to be digitally savvy. While the majority, 52%, are still “developing,” 38% of companies are “proficient,” falling somewhere in the middle of their digital transformation.

“Digital technologies have fundamentally altered nearly every aspect of business operations today,” said Alan Stukalsky, chief digital officer of Randstad North America. “Yet, as our study illustrates, business leaders are struggling with how to unleash the power and promise that a technology-enabled workforce offers. The simple truth is companies must be willing to adapt and scale traditional business models, in order to effectively compete for talent and drive operational growth.”

The research found that a digitally savvy leadership team is fundamental to outperforming competitors and a company’s ability to attract, engage and retain workers. The majority of employees surveyed, 72%, agreed a company’s executive digital leadership greatly influences their willingness to join an organization; however, only 37% of employees completely/strongly agree their employers have a digital leader in place.

And while 90% of employees want to acquire new digital skills in order to further their careers — providing employers with a tangible solution to talent shortages and a way to attract candidates — respondents were largely dissatisfied with the digital tools and learning technologies offered by their current employers:

• Only 13% said their employer has fully embraced technologies like automation, artificial intelligence and collaboration tools
• One-third of workers don’t feel that their employers offer ample opportunities to acquire digital skills with training and on-the-job learning
• 58% of workers say their employers use the latest digital tools and platforms — but don’t provide the necessary training
• 56% of workers feel they lack the skills required today to be digitally savvy
• 50% don’t believe they will learn new digital skills fast enough to succeed in their careers

Research Now fielded the employee and employer surveys from October to November 2017. The employee study asked 2,691 respondents about their views on digital transformation, automation and the future of the workplace. The employer study asked 819 hiring decision makers or c-suite executives from companies with 10-plus employees about their digital transformation efforts, views on automation, and the future of the workplace.