Nearly one-third of American workers feel they are lagging behind in their job skills and anticipate that this will hinder their career advancement and promotions, according to Spherion Staffing Services’ 2015 Emerging Workforce Study.

According to the study, 48% of all employers see finding qualified/skilled workers as a top human resource concern in the next few years, and 62% of employers are more worried about a talent shortage today, as compared to one year ago. However, the study also found 35% of workers find it hard to find the time to keep their skills up-to-date, and 29% of workers feel their current level of job skills are outdated and leave them at risk in terms of furthering their career.

Other notable statistics include:

• 36% of workers don’t feel their current job skills will help them attain a promotion today.
• 33% of workers believe their current job skills fall short of what would be required for future positions.
• 35% of workers worry a lot about falling behind in acquiring new skills that will be needed in the future.
• 31% of workers don’t feel they’ve been trained adequately enough by their employer.

“What’s unique about the Emerging Workforce Study is that we capture and examine the perspectives of the workplace from both the employer and worker points of view,” said Spherion Division President Sandy Mazur. “We’ve known that employers have been dealing with the skills gap issue for a long time. But, with this new data capturing the average worker’s perspective, we know this issue is on track to become a critical threat to economic success.”

The blame for the skills shortage among workers depends on who you ask.

The survey found 31% of workers don’t feel they have been trained adequately enough by their employer, and only 33% said the training and career development opportunities in their organization are excellent/good. Additionally, 76% of workers agree that an employer should be responsible for providing a clear career development path for its employees.

However, 77% of employers surveyed said they have put more training and development programs in place to increase retention and only 24% of employers said the cost to keep workers trained for future skill needs and requirements is extremely or very challenging.

The study was conducted online within the US by Harris Poll on behalf of Spherion from March 20 to April 13, 2015 among 225 human resource managers. An online survey of 2,027 employed adults was also conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Spherion from March 17 to April 7, 2015.