The skills gap is growing, and more executives prefer hiring gig workers, according to survey data from 600 HR executives released today by Wiley Education Services and Future Workplace, an HR advisory firm.

They found that 64% of HR executives said there was a skills gap in their companies this year, up from 52% in a similar report last year. In addition, 44% said it was more difficult to fill their skills gap this year than it was last year, and 42% said the skills gap was making their companies less efficient.

“The skills gap continues to get wider with more than 7 million jobs in America,” said Dan Schawbel, research director at Future Workplace. “Companies can’t find the right talent with the right skills at the right time and it’s preventing them from growth.”

When it comes to solutions for the skills shortage, 47% of HR execs said they prefer to hire gig workers instead of full-time employees - a jump of 9% over the previous year’s study.

More also prefer to invest in artificial intelligence with 40% citing that as a solution, up from 11% last year.