Talk to just about any hiring manager these days, and you’ll hear the same thing – that one of the biggest challenges in today’s HR world is finding talent to fill certain jobs. This rings true not only in the U.S. but all around the world.
In their 10th annual Talent Shortage Survey, ManpowerGroup surveyed over 40,000 hiring managers in 42 countries to see what kinds of challenges employers face when it comes to filling job positions. Below is the global top 10 list of the hardest jobs to fill, along with some other interesting insights from the survey.
Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2015
#1 Skilled Trade Workers
#2 Sales Representatives
#3 Engineers
#4 Technicians
#5 Drivers
#6 Management/Executives
#7 Accounting & Finance Staff
#8 Office Support Staff
#9 IT Staff
#10 Production/Machine Operators
More Insights
- Globally, 38% of employers are finding it difficult to fill jobs. This is the highest percentage the survey has seen since 2007.
- This is the fourth consecutive year that Skilled Trade Workers top the list of the hardest jobs to fill.
- Over 50% of employers say their talent shortages impact their ability to serve clients’ needs – but more than one in five employers aren’t pursuing a strategy to address their talent shortage issue.
Top 5 Reasons for the Talent Shortage
35% Lack of available applicants/no applicants
34% Lack of technical competence (hard skills)
22% Lack of experience
17% Lack of workplace competencies (soft skills)
13% Looking for more pay than what is offered
What to Do?
The final survey report shared some tips for what employers can do to help overcome their talent shortage challenge. A.R. Mazzotta agrees with these suggestions – each of them can help ease the pain brought on by employee shortages.
- Design new people practices. Using the same recruitment practices won’t create a different outcome. A.R. Mazzotta can provide CT employers with expert help in this category. We can open the door for you to explore new recruitment opportunities for direct hire, temp/contract staffing or temp-to-hire. You could also consider re-evaluating your practices when it comes to job posting and resume screening or skills assessments.
- Foster a learning culture. It’s important to encourage your employees to own their careers.
- Adopt an agile mindset. Consider untapped talent pools like youth, older workers or military veterans.
- Have a unique employee value proposition. If you already have one, promote it. And if you don’t have a unique value proposition, make it a priority to create one and use it wisely to make your organization attractive to job seekers.
You can read more about all of the above survey findings here.