Milwaukee — May 28

ManpowerGroup revealed Tuesday that the global talent shortage is intensifying, which in turn is negatively impacting companies’ performance.

Thirty five percent of employers of nearly 40,000 surveyed globally report difficulties in finding staff with the right skills, the highest shortage since the start of the recession. Of those, 54 percent of employers believe this will have a high or medium impact on their ability to meet client needs, an increase from 42 percent in 2012.

The research reveals that talent shortage is endemic across the world. It is most acute in Japan (85 percent of employers), Brazil (68 percent) India (61 percent), Turkey (58 percent) and Hong Kong (58 percent). Employers in Ireland (3 percent), Spain (3 percent), South Africa (6 percent) and the Netherlands and Czech Republic (9 percent) are the least likely to face shortages.

The research shows that globally the roles most difficult to fill are skilled trade workers, engineers and sales representatives, unchanged from last year. Employers are reporting that accounting and finance and management/executive positions are also increasingly hard to fill.

Despite acknowledging the impact talent shortages have on their business, a 22 percent of employers are not changing course to identify new ways to address these shortages.

ManpowerGroup has also launched a new insight paper, “The Great Talent Shortage Awakening: Actions to Take for a Sustainable Workforce,” which examines several strategies HR leaders can pursue to fuel their organization’s competitiveness for years to come.

These include identifying and attracting untapped talent, creating a culture of talent development, implementing a framework to “manufacture” talent aligned with business needs, and improving collaboration with education institutions to ensure graduates are work ready.

Source: ManpowerGroup