Talent shortage persists in job market

ManpowerGroup released the results of its seventh-annual Talent Shortage Survey, revealing 49 percent of U.S. employers are experiencing difficulty filling mission-critical positions within their organizations.

Although slightly lower than the 52 percent of employers struggling in 2011, a significant percentage of total U.S. employers continue to face hiring challenges despite continued high unemployment.

U.S. employers are struggling to find available talent more than their global counterparts, where 34 percent of employers worldwide are having difficulty filling positions.

According to the more than 1,300 U.S. employers surveyed, the jobs that are most difficult to fill include skilled trades, engineers and IT staff, all of which have appeared on the U.S. list multiple times in the past.

The survey also highlights the most common reasons employers say they are having trouble filling jobs, including lack of available applicants, looking for more pay than offered and lack of experience.

“The talent mismatch that persists in the U.S. is hard for most people to understand especially when we’re hearing so much about continued high unemployment,” said Jill Anderson, branch manager for Manpower. “But that fact is we’re seeing this talent mismatch here in Duluth/ Superior where local employers are having challenges filling positions for skilled trades and specialized experience positions.”

ManpowerGroup also released a Fresh Perspectives Paper, “Break the Crisis and Complacency Cycle: Get Ahead of the Global Talent Shortage.” The paper details specialized solutions ManpowerGroup has identified for winning today’s talent war, including developing a workforce strategy; using strategic migration; developing flexible work models; exploring untapped talent markets; and expanding tapped talent markets.

ManpowerGroup surveyed nearly 40,000 employers across 41 countries and territories as part of its annual Talent Shortage Survey. Globally, 34 percent of employers say they are having difficulty filling positions, the three most challenging of which are skilled trades, engineers and sales representatives. The reasons most often cited are lack of available applicants and lack of technical skills.

Among the 41 countries and territories surveyed, employers are having the most difficulty finding the right people to fill jobs in Japan (81 percent) Brazil (71 percent) and Bulgaria (51 percent).

Full results of ManpowerGroup’s seventh annual Talent Shortage Survey can be found at http://www.manpowergroup.us/talent-shortage.

Tags: news, business