For years Canadian employers have felt the effects of the widening skills gap. They complain they can’t find the people they need, or the individuals they hire never have all the required skills. And at the same time, training budgets continue to slip in the country. A recent poll of the oil and gas industry in Canada released by Hays Specialist Recruitment found that 57 percent of respondents believe the sector suffers from a moderate to extreme skills gap, due mostly to a lack of training and development programs. While employers see this as their responsibility, only 2 percent said they plan to add professional development programs. The findings suggest many employers see employee training as a cost rather than an investment. However, it may be that employers don’t know exactly what kind of training they need to offer to best meet their needs. Some training programs are too general, and the programs offered by training institutions may need to be customized to benefit an organization. While this takes time and investment, customized training in the workplace or through a third-party training provider will have massive impacts and tremendous returns on investment, even during tough economic times.