Neel Mehta
Human Resource departments struggling to fill vacancies scoff when they hear no one is hiring. It“™s not that companies aren“™t hiring, HR professionals claim. It“™s that few applicants have the necessary skills and experience.
ManpowerGroup released its annual Talent Shortage Survey today, confirming what HR directors have been saying. Survey findings showed 52 percent of U.S. companies have trouble filling vacancies.
“The fact that companies cite a lack of skills or experience as a reason for talent shortages should be a wake-up call for employers, academia, government and individuals,” said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup president of the Americas. “It is imperative that these stakeholders work together to address the supply-and-demand imbalance in the labor market in a systematic, agile and sustainable way.“
The survey of 1,300 U.S. employers found skilled trades topped the list of hardest jobs to fill with sales coming in second. Engineers, drivers, accounting and finance, IT, management, teachers, secretaries and machinists rounded out the list.
Manpower“™s survey also found salary offers and expectations were becoming more of an issue.
“There may also be an increasing imbalance between employers willingness to pay higher salaries in what is still a soft general labor market compared to the salary expectations of prospective employees, especially those with skills that are in high demand,” Prising said.
In answer to these challenges, the survey found employers are devoting more time and attention to retention strategies and more innovative recruitment strategies.
