IDC’s “Enterprise Resilience: IT Skilling Strategies, 2024” (Doc #US52080524, published May 2024) found that by 2026 more than 90% of organisations worldwide would face the consequences of a sustained IT skills shortage, with projected losses of $5.5 trillion from product delays, impaired competitiveness, and revenue loss. The figure covers the broad IT skills gap, not AI skills in isolation; AI is identified in the report as the single most in-demand skill category driving the shortfall. Workera subsequently published a synthesis of this research applying the IDC figures specifically to AI workforce readiness. Notably, access to training does not automatically translate into capability; organisations are failing to design training effectively for the world of AI.
Primary source: IDC. (May 2024). Enterprise Resilience: IT Skilling Strategies, 2024 (Doc #US52080524). International Data Corporation.
Synthesised by: Workera (AI skills assessment platform), in “The $5.5 Trillion Skills Gap: What IDC’s New Report Reveals About AI Workforce Readiness.”
Key finding: By 2026, 90%+ of organisations will feel the IT skills crisis, with $5.5 trillion in losses from delays, quality failures, and lost revenue; AI skills are the top in-demand category; only 35% of leaders feel they have prepared employees effectively for AI roles.
Accuracy note: The $5.5T figure originates from IDC’s broader IT skills survey, not an AI-only study. Workera reframes it as an AI skills gap figure because AI tops the skills demand list, but the underlying loss projection covers the full IT skills shortage. Citations using this figure should reflect that scope.
Context: The scale of this gap reveals that the knowledge divide is not a marginal workforce issue but a structural economic crisis affecting most large organisations globally. The fact that training availability does not translate to capability suggests that the problem is not supply of courses but the quality, relevance, and systemic integration of AI education and training. Without fundamental changes to how organisations and education systems approach AI literacy, the gap will continue to widen and compound economic disadvantage.