2 days ago
16 expert strategies for solving today's workforce gaps
Hiring freezes. Burned-out teams. Critical roles left unfilled for months. Labor shortages are forcing business owners to rethink how work gets done—and fast. Some are turning to automation while others are reshaping roles or tapping into overlooked talent sources. What they share is a willingness to act decisively and restructure for impact.
To help you find your edge, 16 Fast Company Executive Board members reveal the strategies that are helping them close workforce gaps and keep momentum strong.
1. AUTOMATE TASKS WITH AI.
Use AI to automate routine tasks, like invoicing or support, while optimizing workforce planning. AI can forecast demand, balance workloads, and assign tasks based on staff capacity. This boosts productivity, improves accuracy, and helps businesses stay efficient and resilient amid labor shortages. It can also have a positive impact on employee focus and job satisfaction. – Dan Priest, PwC
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2. UPSKILL PROMISING CANDIDATES.
Don't wait for perfect applicants. Instead, identify candidates who have 60 to 80 percent of the required skills and upskill them to acquire the rest. This is particularly effective for roles where technologies are evolving faster than traditional education. To develop highly capable talent, learning should be timely, job-aligned, and embedded into workflows. Upskilling is no longer optional; it is imperative. – Erin Gajdalo, Pluralsight
3. HIRE MULTI-TALENTED TEAM MEMBERS.
The smartest move I've seen is hiring people who can wear more than one hat—folks who understand the business beyond their job title. It's not about stretching people thin but about building an adaptable team. In times of shortage, versatility is gold. And don't overlook upskilling. Sometimes the person you need is already on the payroll—they just need the right training and a bigger runway. – Kirk W. McLaren, Growth CFO LLC
4. PLAN STRATEGICALLY FOR SHORT- AND LONG-TERM GAPS.
Planning ahead with a clear strategy is essential during resource constraints. Identify which tasks must be prioritized and which can be deferred. Scenario planning is key, as strategies differ for short-term versus long-term needs. To bridge gaps, consider outsourcing, AI automation, stretch assignments, or bringing in part-time or freelance support. – Jani Hirvonen, Google
5. REDEPLOY TALENT BASED ON SKILLS, NOT TITLES.
Unearth the valuable talent inside your company by looking at their skills, not their titles, and determine ways to upskill, reskill, and redeploy your talent to meet your needs. Pair this with strategic AI tools and training to maximize productivity and capitalize on the benefits of human-AI hybrid intelligence to close your labor shortage gap. – Heather Jerrehian, Hitch Works, Inc.
6. LOOK FOR A POSITIVE ATTITUDE, NOT A PACKED RÉSUMÉ.
Hire for attitude over experience. Skills can be taught, but a positive mindset, adaptability, and a strong work ethic are harder to train. By focusing on attitude, business owners can build loyal, motivated teams that are eager to learn, helping to fill labor gaps and strengthen workplace culture over the long term. – Eric Schurke, Moneypenny
7. FOCUS ON SUCCESSFUL AI ADOPTION AND TRAINING.
Addressing labor shortages requires a twofold approach: prioritizing AI adoption and ensuring effective implementation. That means training, guiding, and supporting your current workforce to use the technology. Only then can businesses fully reap the benefits of AI's potential to automate tasks, reduce costs, and boost efficiency. – Usman Shuja, Bluebeam
8. GROW YOUR TALENT PIPELINE WITH PURPOSE-DRIVEN RECRUITING.
Grow the green-collar workforce by meeting talent where they are—on campuses, in local communities and trade schools, or through partnerships. We show up at career fairs, invest in training, and create real job pathways. Fortunately, our business serves a very strong purpose: to make buildings better. People want to work where the mission matters, and that attracts more talent. – Jeff Sprau, Legence
9. COMBINE CULTURE WITH TECHNOLOGY FOR LONG-TERM RESILIENCE.
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Upskilling matters, but so does creating a company culture that attracts the right people. Combine that with the smart use of technology to ease pressure on your workforce, and you'll build teams that are both capable and resilient. Solving labor shortages isn't just about filling gaps—it's also about making your business worth joining. – Eddy Azad, Parsec Automation Corp.
10. INVEST IN PEOPLE.
A focus on raising wages is great, but it must go beyond that. We can close gaps, not only in the short term, by investing in people through strategic vocational partnerships, structured onboarding and training, and development programs. Place emphasis on local hiring as well as internal advancement opportunities. – Larry Brinker Jr., BRINKER
11. PARTNER WITH BOUTIQUE AGENCIES FOR FLEXIBLE SUPPORT.
Partner with a boutique agency. When labor is tight, boutique teams offer specialized expertise without the overhead: flexible, fast, and tailored to your needs. This model lets us plug in where support is needed most, helping brands move quickly without sacrificing quality. – Sharon Lee Thony, SLT Consulting
12. ATTRACT GRADUATES BY OFFERING OWNERSHIP AND GROWTH.
Engage recent graduates by offering ownership stakes, immersive training, and flexible career paths. There is an opportunity to position small and/or new businesses as dynamic alternatives to traditional roles. This strategy not only fills talent gaps but also cultivates future leaders with a strong stake in the business's success. – Mark Valentino, Citizens
13. RETHINK EMPLOYEE ROLES.
Ask: 'Is this a shortage of people, or a shortage of clarity?' We often over-hire to compensate for fuzzy roles and bad systems. Instead of filling seats, redesign jobs to matter more. When we consolidated three part-time customer service roles into one full-time 'client success architect,' applications tripled. People don't want jobs; they want ownership, growth, and purpose. – Shayne Fitz-Coy, Sabot Family Companies
14. COMBINE IMMIGRATION AND TECH FOR A GLOBAL TALENT STRATEGY.
We address talent gaps by combining strategic immigration hiring with internal cross-training. Our team includes professionals across four continents, supported by in-house tech that enables asynchronous collaboration, which lets us access top talent regardless of borders and ensure continuity even during market shortages. It's a long-term solution rooted in flexibility and systems thinking. – Muhammed Uzum, Grape Law Firm PLLC
15. USE FRACTIONAL LEADERSHIP.
One of the most successful strategies CEOs and BODs are using today in addressing labor shortage is hiring fractional C-suite executives to 'fill in.' It reduces the risk of taking on a full-time employee and gets quicker access to battle-proven, industry veterans who understand your goals, hit the ground running, coach your team, and deliver results quickly. – Rich DePencier, Talking Rain Beverage Company
16. FREE UP STAFF BY AUTOMATING DATA MANAGEMENT.
Automate data backup and recovery processes to free up IT staff for higher-value tasks. Many businesses lose productivity when employees manually handle routine data management instead of focusing on strategic work. – Chongwei Chen, DataNumen Inc.
