Workforce data – bringing it all together (but who owns it?)

If employee-led data is messy and job-based data is rigid, what’s the solution? A holistic workforce data approach. 

What does that actually mean? 

It means combining: 

• What employees say about themselves (employee-led data) 

• What their job role suggests they should have (job-based data) 

• What they actually do, learn, and achieve (real-world experience data) 

But here’s the kicker: No single HR system does this well. 

HR Tech vendors love to promise an integrated skills solution, but in reality, companies end up stitching together multiple platforms. 

The good stuff (pros): 

1. A more accurate picture of workforce capability: Combines subjective and objective data.
2. Better talent mobility decisions: Helps organisations place people in roles based on real skills.
3. Future-proofing HR strategies: Aligns skills with long-term workforce planning. 

The bad stuff (cons): 

1. No vendor does it all: Requires complex integrations across multiple systems.
2. HR data governance nightmare: Who validates, updates, and maintains this ecosystem?
3. Employees still game the system: No matter how good the tech is, humans will always find ways to manipulate self-reported data. 

• Eightfold AI – Uses AI to blend job, employee, and external skills data. 

• TechWolf + Snowflake – Infers skills from data sources and refines insights. 

• Workday + Degreed – Workday structures the data; Degreed provides the learning context. 

• Visier – Aggregates skills data for strategic workforce planning. 

HR wants an all-in-one workforce intelligence platform, but reality doesn’t work that way. The future is about building a connected skills ecosystem, not relying on a single vendor to do it all. 

HR loves neat and tidy solutions—but skills data is anything but neat. 

• Employee-led data is great in theory but needs validation. 

• Job-based data is structured but ignores real skill evolution. 

• Workforce data is the goal, but no single vendor can fully deliver it yet. 

HR leaders need to stop looking for one-size-fits-all solutions and start thinking about a multi-platform skills strategy. Skills don’t live in one system, so neither should your skills data.