Five Steps to Future-Proof Your Workforce

October 29, 2025 – The U.S. has managed to navigate its recent economic instability surprisingly well. Despite fluctuating tariff policies, stricter immigration measures, the cancellation of numerous government contracts, and rising inflation, the nation has so far avoided a recession. Still, businesses are showing heightened caution, and the labor market has slowed considerably.

While the country has not seen the kind of mass layoffs that plagued the IT sector in the immediate post-pandemic era, hiring has largely stalled. Without a clear idea of what the future holds, companies are focusing on holding the line and preserving stability, rather than planning for change and growth, according to a recent report from 180 Engineering. “Recent history shows us that this kind of hesitation can cause significant damage down the line,” the report noted. “Many companies that stalled hiring in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic found themselves scrambling months later, without the talent needed to pivot or meet surging demand. In contrast, companies that used the initial slowdown to assess their workforce and implement strategic hiring plans were able to rebound more quickly and easily than their competitors.”

“This is a lesson that can serve companies well today,” the 180 Engineering report said. “Even if you’ve stalled hiring, you don’t have to halt progress. By using this economic slowdown to assess your talent needs, your organization can identify critical skills gaps, prepare for generational turnover, and build the agile workforce needed to respond quickly to market shifts. Proactive workforce planning is critical to weathering the current climate and emerging as a leader during the next economic upturn.” 180 Engineering offers five steps for future-proofing your workforce during economic slowdowns.

Step 1: Assess Your Current Workforce

The first step in creating a strategic hiring plan should be compiling an inventory of your existing staff, likely separations, and the skills and competencies your team needs to be successful, including professional development needs, according to the 180 Engineering report.

“Beyond the number of roles within your organization, your workforce consists of identifiable skills,” the report said. “These may include technical skills, soft skills, certifications, and other qualifications. An inventory of these skills can help you better understand which ones are critical to your organization, skills gaps, and how to help each employee achieve their highest potential. Skills inventories can help shape decisions around redeploying employees, tailoring professional development, succession planning, and talent acquisition.”

Leadership Potential and Succession Gaps

As the workforce ages, organizations are losing valuable employees to retirement. “Use this time to evaluate tenure and identify those employees who are approaching retirement age,” the 180 Engineering report said. “Understanding the wealth of skills that they bring to the table is critical for knowledge transfer and talent acquisition.”

Related: Leadership Traits That Matter in Times of Crisis

A comprehensive skills inventory is also a valuable tool for identifying leadership potential and succession gaps, the 180 Engineering report explained. “Scour the inventory to determine if there are potential leaders who could be developed internally,” it said. “As you identify those who could potentially step into leadership roles, you will also gain an understanding of which roles have no clear successor. Recognizing these gaps early on gives you ample time to address the issue, whether through targeted training or talent acquisition.”

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A skills inventory is also helpful in identifying development needs, the 180 Engineering report explained. “In addition to existing skills gaps and those that might appear due to attrition, it’s important to consider evolving technology,” the study said. “The rapid pace of technical change means that even your most skilled workers will likely need to undertake upskilling or reskilling. “Upskilling has several benefits. First and foremost, it creates and refines needed skills. But it also demonstrates an employer’s investment in their employees, making workers feel valued. And when workers feel valued, productivity, engagement, collaboration, job satisfaction, company loyalty, and retention all skyrocket. Additionally, candidates are attracted to employers who offer upskilling and other development opportunities.”

Step 2: Assess Current and Future Gaps

After you’ve assessed your current workforce, it’s important to undertake a thorough skills gap analysis to address current and future gaps – at all levels within your organization, the 180 Engineering report noted. “A skills gap analysis will uncover any discrepancies between the skills your existing team has and the skills that your company needs to meet its goals,” the study said. “While a written job description may be a good starting point, it’s important to examine all the capabilities that are required for success in each role today. The workplace has changed dramatically in the last few years, especially in tech and engineering roles. New tech has been introduced to the workplace and cross-functional teamwork has become more integral. These changes require strong soft skills, such as adaptability and collaboration.”

Once you know where skills gaps exist within your current team, the 180 Engineering report explained that you will have a better understanding of how to prioritize investments in your workforce. For example, with the rapid rise of AI tools, you may need to invest in ways that allow you to optimize the use of those tools. Or, if you anticipate the need to pivot as a way to manage the economic downturn, you may need to invest in developing leaders or a workforce that has the technical skills to manage that pivot. Those investments might be made in upskilling your current workforce or in strategic hiring, the study added.

“While it’s important to address existing gaps quickly, it’s also critical to look ahead,” the 180 Engineering report said. “Significant digital change is imminent. Digital transformation, AI integration, and increasing automation will all change the way we work. As well, it’s inevitable that regulatory standards will continue to evolve. The skills your workforce needs, the ways that they do their jobs, and the projects they work on are apt to change within the near future.”

Step 3: Plan For Retirements and Succession

Retirements are one of the easiest workforce challenges to predict. And it’s a challenge that many employers will need to deal with through the end of 2027, as America experiences its greatest surge of retirees in history. Baby Boomers are exiting the workforce in droves.

Related: 4 Lessons on Leading Through a Crisis

“As they leave, they’re taking their institutional knowledge, critical skills, and leadership experience,” the 180 Engineering report said. “It’s crucial to forecast expected retirements over the next one to five years so that a proactive plan can be made to address the talent and skills shortages. Rather than scrambling to replace retirees as they leave, organizations should be using this downtime to forecast retirements and strategically plan to backfill those roles. Whether you promote from within (which is a way of signaling that you are invested in the success of your existing workforce) or hire externally to bring in new or needed skills, planning for that transition will considerably ease strains on your organization. Ultimately, a strategic succession plan will build a bridge between short-term needs and long-term growth, setting up your future leaders for success.”

Step 4: Evaluate Flexible Talent Models

Whether you’re experiencing an economic downturn, a pivot to new projects, production spikes, specialized technical challenges, or a leadership transition, your staffing needs will change, according to the 180 Engineering report. “In all these scenarios, short-term staffing, consultants, and contract-based talent can offer efficient, targeted support for just as long as needed,” the study said. “In addition to consultants and contractors, fractional executives can be tapped to provide any leadership and/or expertise that your organization may need on a short-term basis, whether in finance, operations, marketing, technology, or strategy. Hiring any experts on a consulting basis allows companies to access needed skills and knowledge without committing to the cost of a permanent hire.”

One other flexible talent model to consider involves payrolling services. “This is still a relatively new model in the tech and engineering fields,” the 180 Engineering report said. “However, it’s gaining momentum, particularly in response to Baby Boomers exiting the workforce. Payrolling services allow organizations to bring back retirees as part-time or temporary workers, with a third-party payroll provider overseeing all aspects of their pay, including compensation and benefits.”

“Flexible staffing solutions might be considered less than ideal by those who believe longevity is critical to company loyalty, productivity, and institutional knowledge,” the report continued. “But most organizations have been facing volatility and uncertainty for the past few years. That seems unlikely to change any time soon. It’s important to shift our thinking around flexible staffing solutions. They provide a way to quickly scale operations up or down by tapping into a highly skilled and knowledgeable talent pool.”

Step 5: Align Your Partner Ecosystem

180 Engineering said that once you’ve finalized your strategic workforce plan, a critical step is creating a strong partner ecosystem. A strong support system will go a long way in implementing your plan.

“Assess and strengthen your external partnerships so that you have trusted resources to turn to when needed,” the study said. “The right partners will be able to help you quickly and effectively start the hiring process when the economy picks up again.” 180 Engineering explained to consider building and maintaining partnerships with the following types of firms:

• Recruitment agencies that have expertise with tech and engineering hires;
• Staffing agencies who offer direct hire services in tech and engineering;
• Consulting firms and agencies that can provide tech and engineering professionals for interim project-based work or leadership coverage;
• Training organizations that offer professional development and/or upskilling opportunities specific to your sector.

“Building or refreshing these relationships now will ensure that everything is in place when it’s time to pivot or respond to a surge. It’s tempting to brace against uncertainty,” the 180 Engineering report said. “But instead of bringing your organization to a standstill, embrace the slowdown. Use this time to assess and develop a strategic workforce plan so that your organization can hit the ground running when the market turns. Companies that engage in planning now will be the ones best equipped to fill open roles with upskilled employees or new hires, ramp up productivity, and remain competitive when the next economic upswing occurs.”

Related: Key Traits for Navigating a Crisis

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media