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Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this concept in corporate learning called 'skill-adjacent training' — and honestly, it's one of those ideas that sounds obvious once you hear it, but almost nobody does it systematically. Luna: Skill-adjacent — meaning you learn something that's not quite what you do today, but it's close enough to be useful? Lucas: Exactly. It's the gap between your current role and the role one step away. Think of a product manager who learns SQL. They're not becoming a data engineer — but suddenly they can query their own user data, ask sharper questions, and collaborate better with the data team. That's an adjacent skill. Luna: Right. And the whole point is you're not asking people to completely reinvent themselves. You're just extending their toolkit a little. Lucas: Precisely. And the data is pretty compelling. The World Economic Forum published a report last year that looked at learning retention — and skill-adjacent training had about a 40 percent higher retention rate than training that was either too basic or too far removed from someone's daily work. Luna: That makes intuitive sense. If I'm a graphic designer and you teach me basic Python to automate some repetitive tasks, I'm going to practice it every week. If you teach me advanced financial modeling, I'll forget it by Friday. Lucas: That's exactly the dynamic. And the companies that have leaned into this — AT&T is probably the most famous example. Back in 2013, they launched a massive reskilling initiative called Workforce 2020, and the core idea was exactly skill adjacency. They didn't tell customer service reps to become software engineers. They said, 'Learn some basic coding, learn some data analysis' — skills adjacent to what they already did. Luna: And that program eventually retrained over a hundred thousand employees, right? I remember reading that they spent something like a billion dollars on it over several years. Lucas: Yeah, the investment was enormous. But the payoff was that they filled thousands of technical roles internally that they otherwise would have had to hire for externally. And internally hired employees tend to stay longer and perform better — there's a lot of research on that. Luna: Of course, the cynical take is that this is just companies trying to avoid paying market rates for talent. Train someone up instead of hiring someone expensive. Lucas: I think that's part of it, for sure. But the employee also benefits — a lot. LinkedIn's data on this is interesting. They track career outcomes, and they found that employees who engaged in skill-adjacent training — even just ten hours a year — were promoted at a rate about 30 percent higher than peers who didn't. Luna: That's a huge gap. And it's not like ten hours a year is a huge ask. That's about five minutes a day. Lucas: Right. And that's the part that makes this so scalable. You don't need a multi-year degree program. You need a curated set of micro-courses, some practice time, and a manager who encourages it. Luna: Which brings up the question — who's paying for this? Is it usually the company covering the cost, or are employees expected to foot the bill? Lucas: It varies. Some companies have really generous tuition reimbursement programs that now cover these shorter credential programs. IBM has something called the Skills Academy, where they offer thousands of courses for free to employees. Others expect employees to take initiative — but then the reward is internal mobility. Luna: And that's the key, right? The training only matters if there's actually a path to a different role. If you learn SQL but your company has no data roles, it's just a hobby. Lucas: Exactly. So the companies that do this well also map out career pathways. They say, 'If you learn these three adjacent skills, you become eligible for this new role.' That transparency is huge. Luna: I want to zoom in on one example. You mentioned AT&T — but there's also a company called Guild Education that partners with employers to offer skill-adjacent learning. They work with Walmart, Chipotle, and others. Have you looked at their model? Lucas: Yeah, Guild is interesting because they're essentially a marketplace. They connect employers with universities and bootcamps, but they curate the programs to be job-relevant. Walmart, for example, offered its associates a path to become certified pharmacy technicians — that's skill-adjacent for someone working the floor. It's not a huge leap, but it's a real promotion. Luna: And that's a great example because it's not about technology. It's about a practical skill that directly leads to higher wages. Lucas: Right. And the economics work out. Walmart reported that associates who completed the program stayed with the company at much higher rates than the average. So they recoup their training investment through reduced turnover alone. Luna: So what's the barrier? Why aren't more companies doing this systematically? Lucas: I think there are a few reasons. One is that corporate L&D budgets are still often seen as a cost center, not an investment. Another is that managers are measured on short-term output — they don't want their best people spending time learning something that might make them leave. Luna: That's the classic 'training makes people more marketable' fear. But the data suggests the opposite — that training actually increases retention. Lucas: Yes, but that's a hard sell to a middle manager who's worried about hitting this quarter's numbers. The third barrier is simply that designing good adjacent-skill programs is hard. You need to understand what skills are actually adjacent to each role, and that changes as technology changes. Luna: So it's not just about throwing a bunch of LinkedIn Learning courses at people and hoping something sticks. Lucas: No, it requires real thought. And that's where I think AI is starting to help. There are now platforms — like Degreed and Workday's learning module — that use AI to recommend adjacent skills based on someone's current role, their past learning, and the company's future needs. Luna: That sounds promising. But I wonder if it could also lead to a kind of algorithmic career path — where the AI decides what you should learn and you just follow. Lucas: That's a legitimate concern. The best implementations give employees choice within a framework. The AI suggests, but the human decides. And there's evidence that when people feel agency over their learning, they engage more deeply. Luna: One more thing — does this apply to managers too? Or is it mostly for individual contributors? Lucas: It absolutely applies to managers. In fact, a lot of the most effective programs target first-line managers. They might learn coaching skills, or basic financial acumen — skills adjacent to their current management role that prepare them for director-level responsibilities. Luna: So it's really a framework for thinking about career development at every level. Lucas: Exactly. And I think the reason it's resonating now is that the pace of change is so fast. The half-life of skills is shrinking. The idea that you learn everything you need in college and then coast for forty years is dead. Skill-adjacent training offers a practical, low-stakes way to keep evolving. Luna: Low-stakes is key. You're not betting your entire career on one big reskilling move. You're just adding a new tool to your belt, one at a time. Lucas: And that's exactly why I think this concept is going to become more central to how companies think about talent. It's not a silver bullet, but it's a smarter way to invest in people than the old model of one-size-fits-all training. Luna: Alright, so for someone listening who wants to try this — what's the first step? Say I'm a marketing manager. What's a good adjacent skill to learn? Lucas: I'd look at what your team struggles with most. If you're constantly waiting on data from the analytics team, learning basic SQL or even just Google Analytics certification can make you more self-sufficient. If you're spending hours on manual reporting, learning some basic Python or even just advanced Excel could save you ten hours a week. Luna: And if you're a manager, encourage your team to do the same. Give them the time and the budget. Lucas: That's the real unlock. The companies that do this well don't just offer the courses — they create a culture where learning is expected and rewarded. And that's a competitive advantage that's hard to copy. Luna: Something to think about as we head into the second half of 2026. Lucas: Absolutely. And if today's conversation gave you something useful — a new idea for your own career, or a framework to bring to your HR team — that's exactly what we're here for.