Barriers to employee skills development: Comparative analysis of firms in North Macedonia

Abstract

The 21st century race for talents has positioned skills development and utilization as one of businesses’ primary concerns. Indeed, firms’ sustainability in today’s turbulent and competitive environment depends, among other, on the skillsets of their employees. Businesses face various obstacles in their quest for acquiring and developing adequate employee skills. The main aim of this paper is to present key obstacles to developing employee skills in firms in North Macedonia, based on organizational size and business activity. An insight into the barriers to employee skills development would help firms implement corrective measures to achieve appropriate employee skill development and utilization. Lack of applicants’ adequate skills in the recruitment process, lack of employees’ motivation to upgrade their skills and insufficient employee training are perceived as one of the most significant barriers to employee skills development.