By 2030, the world will be short of around 25 million project professionals, generating a potential hit to global GDP of up to $345.5bn, research has revealed.

There are three key reasons behind this shortfall, according to Project Management Institute’s (PMI) ‘2021 Talent Gap Report.’ First, 13 million people are predicted to retire from the profession over the next eight years.

Second, demand is rising for project professionals particularly in emerging and developing countries as their economies grow. The third factor relates to an increase in the number of jobs requiring these skills in heavily ‘projectised industries,’ such as construction, publishing, and financial and professional services.

Elizabeth Harrin, who runs the Project Management Rebels mentoring community and is author of ‘Managing Multiple Projects,’ explains the dynamics at work.

“More jobs require an element of project management due to an increase in knowledge work,” she says. “But many organisations are also trying to do new things and do them in a more structured, repeatable and less wasteful way to get them to market quicker, so it’s really about competitive advantage.”

In order to plug the existing talent gap, however, PMI’s study estimates that around 2.3 million people will need to both enter the profession and develop appropriate skillsets for use in other roles each year.

Barriers to professional entry

But there are currently a number of barriers to entry, says Harrin. Most of them centre on the fact that the sector is young and “is not yet professionalised in the same way as accountancy and engineering,” she says.

For example, a lack of common terminology and standardisation results in job titles meaning different things in different contexts. So, in one organisation, a ‘project coordinator’ could be high-level role, but an entry-level position in another. This makes it important to check job descriptions carefully.

Another challenge, according to input from Harrin’s community, is that “the certification landscape is confusing. There are so many certification choices offered by different organisations that my advice is to look at the job, what you want to do, which industry you want to do it in, and establish the most appropriate option on that basis.”

The situation is also not helped by a lack of clarity among new entrants or people keen to move sideways into a project role about how best to obtain suitable work experience.

But Harrin adds: “If, for example, you’ve planned a wedding or organised a gap year travelling around Europe, you have project management skills, so things like budgeting, scheduling, planning, coping with risk and developing resilience. It’s just about reframing your experience.”

Understanding the talent triangle

To take it a step further, Keren Deront, PMI’s European business lead, says that key project management skills can be grouped into what she calls a ‘talent triangle.’

The first side of this triangle comprises technical skills, which include being able to manage project life-cycles, estimate costs and prevent scope creep. The second is based on leadership or so-called ‘power skills.’ These include coaching, being able to communicate effectively and motivate others.

The final point of the triangle consists of strategic and business management. The focus here is on ensuring activities are aligned with company goals, which includes being able to analyse strengths and weaknesses, develop innovative strategies and enable legal compliance.

While such demands may appear high and the scope broad, Deront acknowledges that “there’s no such thing as a perfect project manager and everyone has gaps in their skillsets.”

She adds: “You do need to be well-rounded and well-versed, but you’re not alone as there’ll always a team working with you to help make the dream a reality.”

Making the dream a reality

This notion of making the dream a reality is an important one as it plays a key role in where most project managers derive much of their job satisfaction.

Harrin says: “The profession attracts people who like to tick things off on a list and get things done so they can make a difference in the world. You can clearly see the link between what you do and the results, and the value you add is quite transparent.”

Another advantage is that many project management skills are transferable and can be applied in a range of different contexts. This means, for instance, that if new entrants choose to undertake a degree or apprenticeship in project management, they are not tied to a single profession but can use the skills across a range of different roles.

One organisation that has set up its own Level 4 apprenticeship scheme to take advantage of this broad applicability is the Leeds Health and Care Academy. It is partner-funded by the city’s NHS trusts, council and other local bodies, to provide a joined-up approach to learning and development across its entire health and care workforce in order to support the cross-fertilisation of ideas.

Jess Scrimshaw, the academy’s programme manager, says: “To address the challenges we’re facing, it’s all about change and developing new services, which is why we wanted to invest in project management. A lot of people are doing it already but there’s something about a formal qualification and training that gives people the confidence to apply their skills and build on their strengths.”

The organisation kicked off with its first cohort of 15 apprentices, which was evenly split between traditional project managers and those in other roles, in November 2021. A second cohort of 20 is due to start in early 2023, with a third scheduled to follow later that year. Over time, the aim is to broaden the intake to include those not currently employed by partner organisations.

Project management is no longer just a business or technical skill; it’s also a life skill

But the benefits are already starting to show. For example, says Scrimshaw, feedback has shown that existing apprentices have become on average 13% more efficient in managing projects, which saves them about 10 hours per month.

Deront adds: “While there have always been projects, they’ve not necessarily always been called that, so perceptions have changed. But nearly everyone is working on them in some way these days, and project management is no longer just a business or technical skill; it’s also a life skill.”

Women represent around a third of the project management population, a figure that hasn’t changed a great deal over the last few years. It is underpinned by a lack of diversity is a problem facing almost all sectors at the project manager level. In the UK, for example, women account for just 24% of the stem workforce and only 5% of tech leadership positions. This gender disparity, among other diversity challenges, is holding companies and their project management requirements back.

Lisa MacLaren, senior VP client services at global talent acquisition firm Cielo, says: “Focusing on gender specifically, a lack of female role models produces a work environment where women don’t feel welcome and don’t feel they can progress. Introducing greater gender diversity at the project manager level will have a spill-down effect through the organisation.”

However, businesses must also look more holistically. Simply cherry-picking women for management roles will counter-actively produce an environment where those at the top don’t see women coming in at the bottom, creating disillusionment. “Influencing the bottom of the machine, for example, by investing in early career programmes that actively promote female involvement, attracts candidates who feel they might not necessarily be a perfect fit, into becoming a perfect fit; boosting diversity and widening the talent pool,” adds MacLaren.

Removing barriers to entry

To address the gender imbalance effectively, companies must ensure that their recruitment pipelines are addressing diverse groups, not just in terms of candidate demographics, but also educational background. For example, IT project managers don't necessarily need to have programming or tech backgrounds. Implementing approaches like ‘low code, no code’ to reduce the reliance on highly qualified developers helps to remove the barriers to entry into stem positions and diversify the IT workforce by opening the profession to new talent.

A lack of female role models produces a work environment where women don’t feel welcome and don’t feel they can progress

There also tend to be fewer women in product development, which results in fewer women in the project management space. Helena Nimmo, CIO at Endava, says: “In product development, the first taste of project management usually means taking on responsibility for smaller project delivery in a larger programme and growing from there. Women represent 50% of end users when it comes to technology products, therefore having more women as part of the design and development teams, in any capacity, increases the diversity of thinking represented in the end product, which can be a real benefit to the design and creation process.”

With remote working now a mainstream feature of post-pandemic working patterns, and technology available to negate geographical borders, global talent pools are now opening up, creating opportunities for organisations to identify talented candidates who would have otherwise been left behind due to their location.

Hire for power skills

Companies are also being encouraged to shift their perspective from hiring project managers for specific technical or ‘hard’ skills, such as coding ability, in favour of soft skills, or power skills, such as leadership and being a quick learner.

“Soft skills take longer to develop and are therefore in greater demand, whereas hard skills can be developed more quickly,” says MacLaren. “The cost of getting individuals with the necessary soft skills up to speed in the industry is much lower than the value of bringing in their expertise and outsider perspective. Hiring for soft skills opens you up to a wider, more diverse talent pool, introducing a diversity of opinion and ability which improves productivity and business impact.”

Create the right culture

Having the right hiring strategy is only part of the solution to closing the diversity gap in project management. Creating a project management culture that looks at the success of the delivery as a whole will make project management a more accessible career and opportunity for people of all backgrounds.

“Project management can be a demanding profession,” says Nikki Horwood at specialist change transformation consultancy Proteus. “Being told on a Friday that you will be working on a project in a different part of your organisation, or even geography, for six months from Monday could be exciting for some, but not ideal if you have personal commitments such as bringing up a family, and a life outside work. Organisations need to be flexible about working conditions and create an environment that works for everyone.”

Networking and mentoring are also crucial for developing a diverse pipeline of project management talent, by creating opportunities for female project managers to share ideas, learn from each other and support each other.

As more companies search for top project management talent, including remote job seekers outside local markets to fill skills shortages, they must make diversity a priority throughout the entire recruitment process. Ultimately, having a diverse project management team allows organisations to benefit from a diversity of thought; the real key to driving innovation and creativity within the workplace.

Twenty-five million new project managers are needed to fill increasing numbers of roles requiring management skills by 2030, according to Project Management Institute's (PMI) report, ‘Talent Gap: Ten-year employment trends, costs and global implications,’ published in June 2021. The challenge for educators, employers and industry bodies is to collaborate to meet this demand.

Educators’ roles are key given that the current project management talent gap can be traced back to school. A report published in August by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, ‘Ending the Big Squeeze on Skills: How to Futureproof Education in England,’ asserts that key skills including critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaborative problem-solving, commonly known as the ‘4Cs’ in business circles and arguably the pillars of project management, have been lost to an education system focused on passive learning instead of a much-needed “system fit for purpose in an age of profound transformation.”

The transition to a net-zero world and a digital economy are key features of this transformation.

The leaders of today can learn from young people. We can learn from their flexibility, their drive and their motivation to make a difference in the world, and the value of fresh perspectives

It therefore comes as little surprise why so few young people are considered well-prepared for work, with nearly three quarters of people aged between 15 and 24 worldwide lacking the skills required for employment, according to the report, ‘Recovering learning: Are children and youth on track in skills development?’ published by the Education Commission and Unicef in July.

Manny Gill, business lead for PMI in the UK, says: “Supplementing studies with more skills-based training gives the next generation of young people business critical skills such as team management, goal setting, adapting to new ways of working, and time management [which can make them] eminently more employable.”

Accordingly, PMI is offering a range of learning and development initiatives to help plug the project management skills gap. Alongside its portfolio of certifications, the professional body has rolled out a bespoke project management curriculum as part of the F1 in Schools competition, and its Kickoff initiative, which is a free-to-access, 45-minute course that introduces individuals to the basics of project management.

But formal qualifications are not always required to develop project management nous. In fact, many people already possess a range of project management skills, but don’t recognise them, or use them to their advantage.

PMI’s Future 50 list was launched in 2020 in recognition of this. The annual list champions 50 individuals across all industry sectors for their ability to recognise their existing project management skills and understand how to refine them to deliver their business strategies and drive change, rather than for being project managers per se.

Gill says: “We encourage everybody to consider themselves a project manager. We need to change the narrative that project managers are a siloed area of a business where only those with the formal qualifications can consider themselves to hold that title.”

This year’s Future 50 honourees include Azeez Gupta, co-founder of Rocket Learning, a workforce development initiative that creates free educational content for families of preschoolers across India via WhatsApp, and Shamma Al Mazrui, who has created a network of youth councils to help promote the voice of young people within government and business across the United Arab Emirates, as well as having become the youngest government minister in the world at age 22 in 2016.

Gill says: “The leaders of today can learn from young people. We can learn from their flexibility, their drive and their motivation to make a difference in the world, and the value of fresh perspectives.”

With this fresh outlook, together with the support of industry networks such as PMI to provide exposure to, and training in, project management skills, the workforce of tomorrow will be far better positioned to manage the business transformations ahead.

Tech innovation, the emergence of new industries and globalisation have all increased an organisational reliance on projects and made project managers with the ability to oversee complex projects from conception to completion, on time and within budget highly sought after. But at a time of global skills shortages, recruiting the best project managers into the right roles can be slow, time-consuming and often hit-and-miss.

According to figures from Project Management Institute (PMI), the global economy will need 25 million new project professionals by 2030, and closing this gap will require 2.3 million people to enter project management-oriented employment (PMOE) every year just to keep up with demand.

However, new global research from PMI and PwC suggests that talent strategies haven’t evolved. They lack a focus on developing and retaining existing project managers, and a lack of variety and innovation in attracting and recruiting new talent.

To nurture their existing employees and attract new talent, organisations need to champion new learning initiatives and explore partnerships to equip staff with the necessary project management skills. These include soft skills – dubbed ‘power skills’ by PMI – such as collaboration and leadership, business acumen to create well-rounded employees, and mastery of new ways of working, including better use of tech-enhanced problem-solving tools

Unlocking internal talent

Addressing internal project management skill gaps can initially involve enrolling employees with aptitude but little project management experience in entry-level project management courses to gain the foundational skills, and then more advanced courses to build on their knowledge. Opportunities to manage small projects enable them to put their new skills into practice, and gradually take on more complex projects, and eventually go on to complete PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.

Investment in training not only increases project management capabilities but also enhances engagement, performance and retention. Encouragingly, according to the PMI 2022 Jobs Report, CEOs are showing hiring flexibility, reflecting a post-pandemic, increasingly talent-driven labour market, and a desire to invest in talent, with 40% putting more emphasis on people investments, such as developing workforce skills and capabilities, up from 33% in 2020. The majority, 88%, plan to increase headcount over the next three years, and 44% expect that most of their workforce will be working remotely at least two days a week.

The student talent pool

More needs to be done to attract student talent. Many students are unaware of the opportunities on offer and the fact that entry to the profession is not restricted to those with formal project management qualifications. And yet most students get involved in ‘project management’ during their studies by being involved in events and organising activities that require managing people, timing and delivery, that can demonstrate an aptitude for project management.

Freya O’Neill-Gallagher, development project manager at digital agency Herd, has been a project manager for almost five years across a variety of industries, working with methodologies such as agile and waterfall.

Power skills are an important part of any job in any sector, but in project management, they can act as a superpower when allied to formal training

She says: “I discovered project management accidentally through a business administration apprenticeship. Before this, I’d never heard of it. When highlighting it as a career, the roles and responsibilities of project manager should be more clearly defined, as initially, I struggled to understand this."

Apprenticeships are a great way in, she adds. “They provide work-based experience and qualifications that help you develop power skills and learn from colleagues with project management experience, but there are also project management courses and qualifications such as Prince2, that are recognised industry-wide.”

Gaining formal, project management-specific training is key to long-term career success in the industry, and a wide range of training courses and certifications are available, including those accredited and run by industry bodies such as Project Management Institute.

Project management skills 

New joiners also need to develop a skillset with a foundational layer of project skills and power skills, such as leadership, communication, motivation, decision-making, organisational skills and time management, primarily through on-the-job mentorship and training, but also through the importance that the profession places on cooperation and collaboration.

“Power skills are an important part of any job in any sector, but in project management, they can act as a superpower when allied to formal training,” says Dr Serkan Ceylan, head of the school of project management at Arden University. “The ability to communicate effectively and influence at the top level are essential to delivering projects on time and budget. And we cannot overestimate their impact. Failures in project management can occur when professionals hide behind these soft skills, without having the training and experience to back it up, which can result in projects failing to meet their desired outcomes, often at a substantial cost to businesses and the economy.”

Building power skills will help bridge the talent gap in project management and equip employers with a capable, professional pool of project managers.