Feature
We call them team, we call them family, we call them partners. We say we care. But in truth, we barely know them.
Most companies have no real understanding of the skills their employees bring to the table today, let alone the talent they’ll need in the future. A global study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), based on insights from over 1,300 HR and business leaders across 80 countries, revealed just how deep this disconnect runs.
Employee interests and career aspirations? Too often, they’re unintentionally but systemically ignored, widening the gap between workforce potential and business needs.
It doesn’t have to be this way. A new generation of thinkers, combined with AI, is helping organizations better understand their employees — their skills, interests and career goals. But before we explore solutions, let’s take a closer look at the problem.
Companies Know Less About Their Employees Than LinkedIn Does
Until recently, "employees have been understood in two ways: through self-reporting — which workers aren’t great at — and through HR making educated guesses," Workera founder and CEO Kian Katanforoosh, who also teaches deep learning at Stanford University, told Reworked.
Siobhan Savage, CEO and co-founder of workforce intelligence platform Reejig, concurs. “Companies don’t know who their people are because most workers don’t update their employee profiles after they’ve been hired,” she said.
That’s a problem. Employees are constantly gaining new skills, experiences and interests — often without their employers ever noticing. Meanwhile, external platforms like LinkedIn track and surface this data better than most HR systems.
"LinkedIn knows more about individual workers than most employers do," said Ruslan Tovbulatov, CMO of AI-powered workforce agility platform Gloat. In fact, companies often know more about the people they’re trying to recruit than they do about their own employees.
This talent blindness is costing companies dearly. They struggle to fill open roles, while employees look elsewhere for growth opportunities.
The Talent Retention Crisis
When employees feel unseen and undervalued, they leave. A Pew Research survey found that 63% of workers who quit their jobs in 2021 cited low pay, lack of advancement opportunities and feeling disrespected as key reasons. Similarly, a 2022 McKinsey study identified limited career growth as the top driver of employee resignations.
Moreover, switching jobs has never been easier. “All it takes is returning one laptop and picking up another,” said Tovbulatov. That’s a big problem for employers, especially when, according to LinkedIn, one-third of employees are considering a job change in 2025.
But what if that job change could happen at their current employer? Experts like Katanforoosh, Savage and Tovbulatov argue that companies already have the talent they need — they just aren’t seeing it.
“For most employees, the best next job is likely to be within their current company,” said Tovbulatov. “For most employers, the best hire is already working there,” Savage told Reworked.
So why aren’t hiring managers finding internal candidates? Why do employees feel they have to leave to grow? A good part of the answer lies in how organizations track, manage and activate their workforce.
AI-Powered Workforce Intelligence: The Game Changer
A new wave of AI-driven platforms is changing how organizations see and support their employees. These solutions go beyond traditional HR systems, using AI to map skills, match employees with opportunities and drive internal mobility.
Reejig: Making Every Worker Visible
Reejig’s AI-powered Work Ontology ensures organizations don’t overlook their own people. Its constantly updated real-time view of every employee’s skills, experience and aspirations help employers match workers to open roles, stretch projects and learning opportunities, ensuring that talent isn’t wasted or lost to external competitors.
Savage highlights one of Reejig’s most valuable features: project-based work matching. “It’s not just about full-time roles,” she said. “We recommend short-term gigs and stretch projects that help employees gain experience in areas they’re passionate about.”
Gloat: Unlocking Internal Mobility
Gloat helps employees find career paths within their organization, even when they’re not actively looking. The platform nudges workers toward opportunities that align with their skills and ambitions, whether it’s a new role, a mentorship or a project.
One of Gloat’s key differentiators is how it challenges outdated notions of talent ownership. “Employers aren’t talent owners. Talent belongs to the organization,” said Tovbulatov. Instead of managers hoarding top performers, Gloat ensures employees are visible and accessible across the company, making internal mobility a reality.
Gloat also surfaces opportunities for underrepresented groups and introverted employees who might not actively promote themselves. “Sometimes, the most talented people aren’t raising their hands. Gloat ensures they don’t go unnoticed,” Tovbulatov added.
Workera: Skills Intelligence at a New Level
Workera provides a next-generation solution for skills intelligence and precision upskilling. Unlike traditional HR systems, which rely on outdated job descriptions, Workera’s AI-first platform maps skills at an unparalleled level of granularity.
“Employers can now truly understand the role and the skills required for success,” said Katanforoosh. Workera uses a combination of AI-built assessments and human verification to provide highly accurate skills data. It even offers proctoring capabilities, ensuring that skill assessments are reliable enough for high-stakes decisions like hiring and promotions.
One of its most innovative features is Sage, an AI mentor for the enterprise. Sage provides personalized learning recommendations and even suggests which chapter an employee should review before retaking an assessment, ensuring targeted skill development rather than generic training.
The Future of Talent Is AI-Driven
These AI-powered platforms are game changers because they don’t just help organizations see their workforce, they help activate it. Instead of employees feeling stuck in their roles or overlooked for promotions, they now have clear, actionable career paths inside their organizations. Instead of managers struggling to fill open positions, they can access a living map of internal talent, identifying the right people for the right roles in real time.
This shift matters. The future of work is uncertain, with rapid technological advancements requiring companies to reskill and redeploy talent faster than ever. Organizations that continue to rely on outdated approaches to talent management — manual tracking, disconnected HR systems, limited internal mobility — will struggle to keep up. Those who embrace AI-driven workforce intelligence will not only improve retention but also build a more agile, engaged and future-ready workforce.
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Editor’s Note: Read more about the state of skills and internal mobility:
- Internal Mobility Is a Win for Everyone, But It Still Isn't Happening. Here's Why — Employers need to understand what kind of attitudes, behaviors and practices are limiting their ability to move talent internally.
- Want a Skills-Based Workforce? Consider This First — There's big talk and bigger demand to become a skills-based workplace. The only problem? Companies don't know the skills they have. Some considerations.
- The High Cost of Talent Hoarding — Talent hoarding is on the rise, and it hurts everyone involved. Here’s what blocking an employee's advancement can cost you — and how to avoid it.
