Welcome back. An HR friend in the consumer packaged-goods space was recently lamenting to me the severe skills shortage in data analytics. She worried that no matter how much pay was offered to people, the applicants just weren’t there. “We need to figure out what our own people can do and source these skills in house,” she said.

Hiring professionals are realizing that a solution to the scarce labor problem could be found by looking for not the perfect match, but by focusing on the nearest fits in qualifications or expertise, or skills adjacency.

“Skills adjacency is a way of opening nontraditional pathways for employees who don’t have the experience doing the exact job needed but have every ounce of capability required,” said Jolen Anderson, the global head of human resources for BNY Mellon.

Knowing that a person good at skill A often excels at skill B helps HR leaders understand employees’ full capabilities and the transferable skills they possess. For example, through skills adjacency, we could guess that an experienced enterprise sales representative could quickly learn enterprise partnerships.

Hiring managers don’t readily make these connections, and that is understandable. There are two million unique skills, and it is impossible to understand all of them individually, let alone the relationship between them and the interactive role brand new skill sets will play.

Though there have been some noted shortcomings, deep-learning algorithms in modern HR software can also help break down human-work experience into capabilities and match those capabilities with available jobs. Some proponents say AI could make the hiring process fairer and faster.

• Reallocate and upskill: Based on analyzing thousands of similar career paths, you might learn that redundant employees involved with operations have the right adjacent skills to move into project management. Instead of letting go of high-performing operations people and hoping you can bring in reliable project managers from the outside, focus your efforts on training the proven resources you have. These insights can inform internal shifts and perhaps even bolster employees who were eyeing the door.

• Rethink requirements: In the aftermath of the 2007-09 recession, many employers chose to increase qualifications as they had their pick of hires amid a flood of applicants. But some companies are loosening education and minimum-work requirements this time around, and using tactics such as role-playing exercises during job tryouts to widen the talent pool by focusing on whether potential hires have the skills and aptitude to succeed in a particular role.
   
• Mine talent from hard-hit industries: Millions of workers in hospitality and service jobs have left the industry since the start of the pandemic. Though the industry has expanded its hiring in recent months, many of those workers won’t be returning, creating a tappable talent pool. IT industry trade group CompTia, for instance, lists a number of skills these job seekers could transfer to IT roles, including  teamwork, working under pressure, multitasking and problem solving.

You don’t have to leave jobs unfilled while you wait for the perfect candidate to show up. By delving deeper into what your current people can do, you will be much better prepared for what comes next.

My HR friend eventually solved her shortage of data analysts by partnering with the computer programming department of a local university. Its graduates weren’t trained in analytics, but my friend realized that thanks to skills adjacency, she could train them quickly.

In a new report, online learning company Udemy Business breaks down essential 21st century skills into three categories: power skills, tactical skills and technical skills. After the Udemy 2022 Workplace Learning Trends cited demand in categories such as office productivity and leadership and management, it concluded that the most in-demand skills aren’t just about staying ahead of the technical curve.

🎥 WATCH: Women Who Code Chief Executive and co-founder Alaina Percival discusses her work bringing more women into tech-related fields through hands-on technical training and networking opportunities with The Wall Street Journal's Katherine Finnerty.

What is asynchronous work? Asynchronous work allows workers to choose their own working hours and work locations, and supporters say individuals are more productive because of the flexibility. Employees are accountable for hitting their goals, but can determine when and how much they work. Automattic has allowed such flexibility since its 2005 founding, and it is how the company’s nearly 2,000 employees across roughly 100 countries carry out their duties.

Upsides and challenges: Mr. Mullenweg says one of the biggest benefits of asynchronous work is in hiring, as the added flexibility expands the talent pool to potential hires who aren’t able or don’t want to work a rigid schedule. But with work happening across time zones, it could take longer to get a team on the same page on a matter than it would with a short in-person or virtual meeting. Automattic relies heavily on written communication to keep its workers in sync, and its CEO says clarity of writing is one of the biggest challenges to working asynchronously. The company has been experimenting with training to help improve writing skills.

Investment in offsites: While many employers still hold the view that the office is the best place for collaboration and to foster a sense of loyalty and connection, Mr. Mullenweg and others think offering employees time together in focused ways for a limited period can work just as well.

A whole new world: Some tech visionaries and workplace experts say the metaverse will be the new space for colleagues to collaborate and will further the trend of employees living far from corporate HQ by giving more options for employers in hiring and training. Many also expect the creation of new jobs to help support doing work in the metaverse.

• Will remote work stick after the pandemic? (Economist)
   
• Restaurant workers are quitting in droves. This is how they are being lured back. (Washington Post)
   
• Jobs and the Covid-19 recession: why this time is different (World Economic Forum)
   
• Top 10 HR trends for the 2022 workplace (Forbes)
   
• Teachers are quitting, and companies are hot to hire them (WSJ)

📅 May 7: A New York state law requiring employers to provide written notice about electronic-monitoring, including of email, internet use and videoconferencing, goes into effect. 

Alexandra Levit is a business and workplace author and speaker. She is the weekly columnist anchoring The Workplace Report. Yogita Patel curated and edited this newsletter.

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