Skills gap analysis that answers 'do we have the skills?'
For HR leaders, managers and leadership teams who need a straight answer. Use the 4-step template below, copy the example analyses, and run it all on live data your people keep current themselves. Then decide who to upskill, who to reskill and what to hire for.
You cannot close a gap you cannot see
Most skill gap analyses are out of date before anyone acts on them. The data sits in spreadsheets, old dashboards and managers' heads.
A gap analysis only holds if the data stays current. That happens when people see their own growth path and want to keep their profile up to date.
- The survey nobody finishesYou get half the answers, a month late, and no way to refresh them.
- The matrix that goes staleA skills spreadsheet or Power BI dashboard looks great for 6 months. Then people change roles and nobody updates it.
- The LMS that counts coursesIt shows 4,000 completions. It can't show whether a single skill grew.
How to run a skill gap analysis in 4 steps
Running it for one team? Start with the spreadsheet template. Running it across the organisation? Do the same 4 steps in MuchSkills, where the data updates itself.
- 1
List the skills, levels and certifications for each role or project. Start from a library of 20,000 industry-specific skills, 12,000+ tech skills and 9,700+ certifications, or paste a job description and get a suggested skill profile.
- 2
Employees add their skills, proficiency, interest and certifications. Managers validate them. Interest matters: it tells you who wants to grow into the gap.
- 3
See the gaps by person, role, team, department and location. Spot where 1 person holds a critical skill alone.
- 4
Choose to upskill, reskill or recruit for each gap. Then check whether the gap actually closes over the next quarters.
6 skill gap analyses worth running this quarter
Ask in plain language and get a structured report in seconds, with skill levels, experts and gaps broken down by team or role.
Do we have the AI skills our plan assumes?
Measure your AI skills gap against the roles your strategy needs, before you commit budget to hiring.
Who is our only expert?
Find skills held by 1 person so you can cover them before that person leaves.
Is our leadership pipeline ready?
Compare the leadership competencies you need with what your next managers have today.
Which certifications expire before the audit?
See missing and expiring certifications by role, site and date, before a project kick-off or audit.
Who could fill this role from inside?
Define the role and see who is closest, including people whose skills HR never knew about.
Did the training close the gap?
Track skill growth over time and show the CFO which gaps the L&D budget actually closed.
From assumptions to data
10 verified reviews on G2
“90% clearer visibility into team skills and project readiness.”
“Transformed how we talk about skills, from assumptions to data.”
“I appreciate how easy it is to compile skills into an analysis list, give employees an assessment of their skills, and thus get a clear picture of the distribution of competencies in the company, such as AI skills.”
“It’s easy to use, easy to get value out of quickly, and it has a lot of flexibility in terms of integrating with different systems.”
“The initial setup was very easy, especially being able to sync AD users, which is really nice.”
“The platform also made it easy for us to track and report on technical certifications across numerous vendors, notify the right people when certifications were close to expiring…”
“MuchSkills is really useful for us to get a complete picture of the skills across our Delivery team, especially since it’s a large group with professionals from various specialties.”
“Eliminated spreadsheet chaos across 200+ employees.”
“It’s rare to find a platform that can make workforce planning more data-driven while simultaneously making people conversations more meaningful.”
“It helps us stay audit-ready and meet the requirements connected to our ISO and AS certifications, while at the same time giving us a practical tool for identifying skill gaps.”
“Our managers are having better 1:1s than ever.”
“They have implemented many of our suggestions and worked with us as a reliable implementation partner to tailor the tool to our needs.”
“The most compelling and intuitive solution on the market.”
Dmitry R.Head of People“It helps to visualize each individual’s skills, identify weaknesses and work on improvement to increase productivity and efficiency.”
Skills-based organisations are 107% more likely to place people efficiently and 98% more likely to keep key peopleSource: Deloitte, 2022
Recognised by
Everest Group PEAK Matrix® 2026
Red Dot Winner 2020
SHRM Better Workplace ChallengeSkill gap analysis: common questions
What is a skill gap analysis?
A skill gap analysis compares the skills your organisation needs with the skills your people have today. It shows where you are short, by role, team or location, so you can decide whether to upskill, reskill or hire. Done well, it also shows who wants to grow into each gap, not just who could.
How do you do a skill gap analysis?
You do a skill gap analysis in 4 steps. Set the skills and levels each role needs. Have people map their current skills, proficiency and certifications. Compare need against have to find the gaps. Then decide for each gap whether to upskill, reskill or recruit, and track whether it closes over time.
Is there a free skill gap analysis template?
Yes. Our skill gap analysis template is a spreadsheet that follows the same 4 steps and suits a single team. For a whole organisation, MuchSkills keeps the data current because employees keep their own profiles up to date.
What should I look for in skill gap analysis software?
Good skill gap analysis software keeps its data current, or every report goes stale. Look for profiles employees actually maintain, manager validation, certification tracking, filters by role, team and location, and progress over time. It should also connect to your HRIS. MuchSkills does all of this and is rated 5.0 on Capterra and 4.5 on G2.
How do you measure an AI skills gap?
You measure an AI skills gap by defining the AI and data skills your strategy needs, then comparing them with what people have and want to learn. In MuchSkills you can ask in plain language, such as 'show AI and ML skills across engineering', and get a report with levels, experts and gaps in seconds.
What is the difference between a workforce gap analysis and a skill gap analysis?
A workforce gap analysis looks at headcount and capacity: do we have enough people? A skill gap analysis looks at capability: do those people have the right skills? You need both for workforce planning. MuchSkills covers skills, certifications and utilisation, so you can see gaps in both capability and capacity.
Does MuchSkills work with our HRIS, and is the data safe?
Yes. MuchSkills sits on top of HR systems including Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Personio, HiBob and BambooHR, and every plan includes HRIS integrations and SSO. It is GDPR compliant, customer personal data is hosted in the EU, and it is never used to train third-party AI models.
Find your gaps before they find you
Map one team, run your first skill gap analysis and see what you have.