Employers Struggling to Find Talent

May 30, 2012 – 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 positions 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 since the survey began in 2006. The survey also highlights the most common reasons employers say they are having trouble filling jobs, including lack of available applicants, applicants looking for more pay and lack of experience. Regionally, employers in the Americas are having more trouble filling jobs than the global average, with 41percent of employers reporting difficulty filling positions due to lack of available talent. Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup president of the Americas, said: “This skills mismatch has major ramifications on employment and business success in the U.S and around the globe. Wise corporate leaders are doing something about it, and we increasingly see that they're developing workforce strategies and partnerships with local educational institutions to train their next generation of workers.”