Winning the future of work: why capability beats concept

Independent

3 days ago

SThree is a Business Reporter client
There have been issues with skills gaps in the booming STEM industry for some time now. The pace of change and society's acute reliance on the sector's breakthroughs – from the green transition to AI to biotech innovations – has meant that the demand from companies to 'find talent' has skyrocketed. But, meanwhile, the supply of that talent is struggling to keep pace.
It's not a comfortable situation for companies to be in. They have strong potential and ideas, through which they're trying to gain a competitive edge, but they can't find the right people to help them realise their ambitions.
Indeed, according to our own global research, even top-performing countries are facing structural challenges – whether that's a shortage of engineering graduates, a lack of gender diversity or an overreliance on outdated sourcing models. The UK, for example, ranks eighth globally for its foundational and specialised education, yet it lags in innovation output – a clear sign that education alone isn't enough to drive growth, and that without targeted investment in workforce capability, even the strongest academic ecosystems risk underdelivering.
These issues are not unique to the UK – it's a phenomenon being experienced at a global level. But what we've found in our role as an international STEM workforce consultancy is that the most successful businesses think in ecosystems. They're not simply filling vacancies; they're investing in the resilience and agility of their future workforce.
That means thinking outside the box. It means recognising that your next high-impact performer may not come from a traditional background or follow a conventional career path. They may be a sector switcher, a self-taught developer or someone whose unique perspective proves to be the business's hidden advantage. And it means shifting from reactive recruitment to proactive workforce planning, identifying adjacent skillsets, investing in internal upskilling and building diverse teams equipped for complex, ever-evolving challenges.
From our work with industry leaders, we've seen a consistent pattern among the organisations staying ahead of the curve.
They decentralise hiring, moving beyond local markets, tapping into remote and international talent pools rather than restricting themselves to a narrow geography. For companies such as this, hybrid work isn't just a job perk or a benefit for incoming employees – it's a structural enabler for accessing hard-to-find skills and diversifying talent sources.
Industry leaders co-create the pipeline, build strategic partnerships with universities and training providers, support non-traditional pathways such as bootcamps and apprenticeships and adopt skills-based hiring models. They don't wait for government policy to fix the system; they actively shape it themselves.
And they plan for potential. They use data and workforce intelligence to anticipate emerging needs and act early, planning for the skills they'll need next, not just the roles they have now.
Strategising like this to close skills gaps is a job for the whole company – it's far from simply an HR issue. It should be a business-critical priority that demands board-level ownership, strategic investment, leadership accountability and a long-term vision that spans regions and sectors. After all, breakthrough technologies are reshaping our economy, society and world of work. There are big wins to be had in this period of unprecedented and extraordinary technological promise across STEM industries.
But this race to innovate is no longer just a battle of ideas – it's a battle for capability. The question is no longer how, or who, to hire, but how to build a lasting, adaptable team. Because in the end, it won't be the boldest vision or the brightest idea that wins. It will be the organisation that builds the capability to deliver, time and time again.
SThree partners with forward-looking organisations to build the resilient, skilled STEM workforces needed to thrive in a changing world. If you're ready to stop chasing talent and start shaping capability, get in touch. Let's outpace tomorrow, together.
Timo Lehne is CEO of Global STEM Workforce Consultancy SThree plc. Appointed CEO in April 2022, he previously led SThree's largest region, DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). Timo began his career with SThree in 2006 as a sales consultant and rapidly progressed through leadership roles. He holds a degree in International Economics and brings nearly two decades of experience in STEM workforce solutions.