55% of organisations lack visibility into workforce skills, reveals Global Learning & Skilling Report 2026

Future Skills Conference 2026 in Mumbai. The findings pointed to a growing gap between organisations’ ambitions around workforce transformation and their ability to understand, develop and deploy talent effectively.

The report, which draws insights from HR and learning leaders across India, Southeast Asia (SEA) and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), painted a picture of organisations investing heavily in learning while struggling to translate that activity into workforce readiness.

The skills visibility challenge is emerging at a time when businesses are facing pressure to prepare employees for AI adoption, digital transformation and changing job requirements. Yet many organisations remain unable to answer basic questions about the capabilities they already possess, where critical gaps exist, and how talent can be redeployed internally.

The report was launched at ‘s Future Skills Conference 2026, where workforce capability, AI-driven learning and skills-based talent strategies dominated discussions among business leaders, HR executives and learning professionals.

Learning activity rises, but capability remains difficult to measure

One of the report’s central findings is that organisations continue to measure learning primarily through activity rather than outcomes.

While learning budgets and participation rates have increased across regions, many organisations still rely on metrics such as training hours, course completions and certification counts to evaluate success. The report argued that these measures offered limited insight into whether employees are actually building capabilities that can be applied to business challenges.

This disconnect is becoming increasingly significant as skill requirements evolve more rapidly. HR leaders interviewed for the study noted that the ability to learn, adapt and apply new skills is becoming more valuable than mastery of any single capability.

The findings suggested that organisations are beginning to move towards skills-based models, but many remain in the early stages of that transition.

India leads on momentum and experimentation

Among the three regions studied, India emerged as one of the most active markets for learning transformation.

The report also found that organisations in India are moving faster than many global counterparts in adopting AI-enabled learning tools, experimenting with skills-based talent models and linking learning more closely with business strategy.

India’s large technology workforce, expanding Global Capability Centre (GCC) ecosystem and growing emphasis on digital skills have accelerated demand for continuous learning and workforce reinvention.

However, the report noted that Indian organisations face many of the same structural challenges as their global counterparts. Skills visibility remains inconsistent, internal mobility programmes are still evolving, and many organisations continue to struggle with measuring business impact from learning investments.

The challenge for Indian employers is no longer generating interest in learning but ensuring that learning translates into measurable capability and performance outcomes.

Southeast Asia shows stronger execution

Southeast Asia emerged as one of the more mature regions in terms of learning execution and workforce agility.

Organisations across the region are making greater progress in linking skills development with talent mobility, workforce planning and organisational priorities. The report highlighted stronger alignment between learning initiatives and business needs compared with many other markets.

Several Southeast Asian organisations have also advanced further in creating structured skills frameworks and integrating learning into broader talent management systems.

The region’s experience suggests that workforce transformation is not solely dependent on investment levels but also on the ability to connect learning with deployment opportunities and business outcomes.

EMEA grapples with investment and skills visibility gaps

The report identified EMEA as a region with strong awareness of the importance of workforce transformation but lower levels of maturity in execution.

Many organisations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa are actively discussing skills, AI readiness and workforce development. However, investment levels remain relatively cautious, and skills visibility continues to be a significant challenge.

The report noted that many EMEA organisations are still building the foundational systems required to support skills-based workforce planning. Without robust skills architectures and workforce intelligence capabilities, organisations often struggle to identify internal talent pools or redeploy employees into emerging roles.

This is particularly relevant as businesses across the region seek to address shortages in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, sustainability and advanced digital capabilities.

AI adoption is accelerating, but use cases remain limited

The report also highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence in learning and development.

Globally, 65% of organisations are already using AI to create learning content, making it the most widely adopted AI application within L&D. However, adoption drops significantly when it comes to more advanced applications.

Only 22% of organisations reported using AI-powered coaching solutions, while fewer than half are investing in AI-driven learning ecosystems that personalise development journeys or provide workforce intelligence.

The findings suggested that most organisations are using AI primarily to improve efficiency rather than fundamentally redesign learning and workforce development strategies.

Across India, SEA and EMEA, the conversation is beginning to shift from AI adoption to AI maturity, with organisations increasingly focused on how these tools can support capability building rather than simply automate administrative tasks.

Internal mobility remains underutilised

Another finding with implications across all three regions is the low level of internal talent mobility.

According to the report, 46% of organisations reported internal mobility rates below 20%, indicating that many employees remained disconnected from opportunities within their own organisations.

The issue is closely linked to skills visibility. Without a clear understanding of employee capabilities, organisations often default to external hiring rather than redeploying existing talent.

As skill shortages persist across industries, internal mobility is increasingly being viewed as a critical mechanism for improving workforce agility while reducing recruitment costs.

From learning programmes to capability systems

The report concluded that organisations needed to rethink how learning is designed, measured and integrated into business strategy.

Rather than treating learning as a standalone function, leading organisations are beginning to build capability systems that connect skills, workforce planning, career development, talent mobility and organisational performance.

For HR leaders gathered at the Future Skills Conference in Mumbai, the message was clear: the future of workforce transformation will not be determined by how much learning organisations provide, but by how effectively they can turn learning into deployable capability.

As AI reshapes jobs and business models continue to evolve, the organisations that gain a competitive advantage will be those that know what skills they have, understand what skills they need, and can move talent quickly to where it creates the greatest value.