SME AI skill-shortage shares (G7)
A compact data point bundle on how widely SMEs report skills as a binding constraint, across the G7.
Headline % of SMEs reporting skill barrier to generative AI
- OECD survey, four G7 countries (OECD, 2025): 50% of SMEs report employees lack the skills to use generative AI.
- OECD D4SME survey, six G7 countries, ~1,000 respondents (2025): >50% report lack of knowledge about how to use generative AI as a barrier.
- Japan: 80%
- Canada: 50%
- UK: 40%
- Germany: 40%
Worker shortage and skills/experience shortage among gen-AI-using SMEs (Figure 9)
| Country | Worker shortage | Lack of skills/experience |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 44.7% | 41.4% |
| Germany | 43.9% | 33.1% |
| Canada | 31.1% | 32.7% |
| UK | 29.1% | 37.3% |
Generative AI impact on skill needs (Figure 10, gen-AI-using SMEs)
| Country | Increasing | No change | Decreasing |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 38.6% | 50.5% | 10.9% |
| Canada | 27.7% | 61.5% | 10.8% |
| Germany | 17.0% | 74.3% | 8.7% |
| Japan | 5.1% | 90.8% | 4.1% |
In Canada, Germany and the UK the increase-decrease ratio is roughly 2:1 or higher. Japan is an outlier on every dimension.
AI-related training participation (Figure 12)
| Country | % of gen-AI-using SMEs whose employees participate in AI training |
|---|---|
| Canada | 29.4% |
| UK | 24.0% |
| Germany | 23.2% |
| Japan | 11.3% |
Skill-importance shift (Figure 11, % rating each skill more important due to gen-AI)
- Data analysis and interpretation: 46.4%
- Creativity and innovation: 41.9%
- Programming and coding: 39.0%
- Communication and collaboration: 35.8%
- Clerical and administration: 34.0%
- Critical thinking and problem-solving: 33.5%
- Customer service and sales: 31.1%
Cross-reference
Direct empirical underpinning for ai-skill-shortage-as-diffusion-bottleneck and fusion-skills. Supporting evidence for diffusion-vs-innovation.
Source: OECD survey on how SMEs use generative AI to address skill and labour needs, 2024 (OECD, 2025); Bianchini & Lasheras Sancho (2025).