“We just can’t find the right people.”
How many times have you read this in articles or heard it from hiring managers?
It’s been repeated so often, it sounds like a fact.
But what if the so-called “skill gap” was just a convenient excuse?
What if the real problem isn’t a lack of skills, but a lack of jobs that are actually worth doing?
The Skill Gap Is a Myth. A Convenient One
The only thing supporting the idea of a “skill gap” is companies complaining they can’t find the talent they’re looking for.
In Italy, nearly half of planned hires in 2023 were deemed “hard to fill” (up from 1 in 4 in 2019). And it’s not just Italy: most developed countries are in the same boat. Italy ranks 69th out of 133 for ease of finding skilled workers. The UK is 71st, Germany 74th, France 75th, Japan 77th.
And yet, across Europe, over 23% of workers are overqualified, doing jobs well below their education and skill level. It’s especially common in more remote regions and Mediterranean countries like Italy, Spain, and Greece. And the trend is getting worse.
So what’s going on?
Simple: people accept jobs below their level just to secure some form of financial stability.
With youth unemployment near 15% and huge numbers of workers stuck in roles that have nothing to do with their education (OECD, 2023), the whole “we can’t find the right skills” story starts to crumble.
Maybe the talent isn’t missing.
Maybe the jobs just aren’t worth taking.
The Great Skills Bluff: Underpaying While Overasking
A 2014 study by Peter Cappelli showed how companies inflate skill requirements when there are too many candidates. It’s a trick designed to lower salaries and expectations.
So it’s no surprise that, as of early 2024, real wages across Europe are still below pre-pandemic levels. And with short-term contracts on the rise, it’s clear: the real issue isn’t talent scarcity. It’s companies not wanting to pay for it.
If There’s a Gap, It’s in Training
There’s very little actual evidence that a “skill gap” exists.
But there’s plenty of data pointing to a training gap.
European companies spend just 0.7% of labor costs on ongoing training (CEDEFOP, 2023).
And fewer than half of European adults regularly access professional learning programs (AES, 2023).
If businesses expect workers to show up fully trained but aren’t willing to train them, they shouldn’t be surprised when the talent pool comes up short.
It’s Not a Skill Gap. It’s a Mismatch
Peter Cappelli makes an important distinction: this isn’t a skill gap—it’s a mismatch.
The skills are out there. So are the jobs. But they don’t meet because something’s broken: low pay, job insecurity, inflated expectations, and a lack of serious investment in training. That’s the real issue.
The Fix? Unbundle Everything
Work is being completely restructured by automation, globalization, and technology. It’s becoming distributed: tasks go to whoever can do them, wherever and whenever they happen to be. Increasingly, those “people” are also machines.
Gary Bolles calls this shift unbundling—breaking traditional jobs into specific tasks that can be split, outsourced, and done flexibly.
It’s not the end of work. It’s the beginning of something more agile, more adaptable, and more aligned with people’s actual skills.
But for this shift to reduce the mismatch, companies and workers need to rethink everything: how they hire, how they train, how they match talent to opportunity.
The New Rules of Work
For Workers
Think like a business. You’re not just an employee, you’re a solo enterprise. Keep learning. Keep sharpening your offer.
Build a career portfolio. Stop chasing “the one job.” Be many things at once: designer, speaker, coach, writer. Diversify to stay resilient.
Become a centaur. Use AI to amplify what you can do. Don’t fear it—orchestrate it. That’s how you make yourself indispensable.
Show, don’t tell. Forget the long résumé. Offer your skills through real, short-term projects and prove your value up front.
For Organizations
Cut the nonsense from job ads. Ditch the inflated lists of “requirements.” Hire for real skills, not lofty titles.
Use AI to build global talent networks. Automation and distributed work let you find and manage great people anywhere, fast.
Be faster and more flexible. Use digital platforms to hire across borders and time zones. Remove friction.
Redefine management. Leaders should facilitate, not control.
Design work around real problems. People aren’t task fillers. They’re problem-solvers. Build around that.
Give teams autonomy. Let them figure out how to get the job done. That’s how agility happens.
Make internal mobility easy. Let people move. Let them grow. Help them find the spot where they can do their best work.
Be flexible on time and place. Embrace remote work. Embrace flexible schedules. Remove barriers that exclude great talent.
Use tech to empower, not replace. The future isn’t man or machine. It’s man plus machine. Use tech to lift your people, not eliminate them.