-- Only 27 Percent Agree they are Helping Reskill Employees Affected by Automation --

-- Only 23 Percent have the Talent Needed to Navigate the “Internet of Things” –

Los Angeles, Sept. 19, 2017 – A new Korn Ferry (NYSE:KFY) survey of senior leaders at technology organizations shows that tech firms are behind when it comes to hiring and preparing employees for the evolving needs of the industry.

The survey found only 23 percent of respondents agree that their organization has an Internet of Things (IoT) talent bench in place and only 27 percent agree that their organization is actively helping reskill employees affected by automation and re-tasking them to other work.

“The technology industry is a mix of old-school, blue chip companies and nimble startups,” said Werner Penk, President, Korn Ferry Global Technology Sector. “And while each organization is different, one thing is clear: the pace of technological change is only going to get faster and for companies in this sector to survive, they need to prepare their talent.”

Only 36 percent of respondents agree that their organization has the talent needed to deliver their future business strategy. In contrast, 75 percent of respondents agree their organization has the talent needed for their current business strategy.

When it comes to the number one challenge facing respondents’ organizations, application modernization and more digital transformation (51 percent) topped the list, followed by big data & data analytics, cyber & physical security, and cloud & mobility.

On the upside, 77 percent of respondents agree that their organization has programs in place to increase employee awareness of the role they play in helping ensure enterprise wide security and 66 percent agree that ensuring holistic risk management and every employee doing their part to maintain enterprise wide security is part of their company culture.

Yet only 43 percent agree their organization has the cyber security talent needed to support their digital and business transformation needs and less than one-third agree they have the right cyber-security infrastructure in place to support their data analytics, business process automation, artificial intelligence, and related services.

“Ensuring cyber security is critical for tech organizations, as these firms will only continue to increase their leverage of big data analytics and artificial intelligence in delivering solutions for clients,” added Penk. “Companies clearly need to evaluate their existing talent and think about how they can upskill current employees or what new talent they need to ensure the future survival of their organization.”

About the Survey

Korn Ferry surveyed more than 60 C-Suite, VP and top HR professionals at top tech firms during the summer of 2017.

About Korn Ferry

Korn Ferry is the preeminent global people and organizational advisory firm. We help leaders, organizations and societies succeed by releasing the full power and potential of people. Our more than 7,000 colleagues deliver services through our Executive Search, Korn Ferry and Korn Ferry divisions.