Shortages Persist in Key Roles Despite Available Job Seekers
May 21, 2010 – Manpower Inc. has released the results of its Manpower Talent Shortage Survey, revealing persistent talent shortages in many countries and industry sectors. In the U.S., 14 percent of employers reported having difficulty filling key positions within their organization, down from 19 percent in 2009. Worldwide, 31 percent of employers are experiencing challenges finding the right talent, similar to the 2009 figure of 30 percent. The most difficult U.S. jobs to fill are skilled trades, sales representatives, nurses and technicians. These job titles have appeared on the U.S. survey in past years and closely mirror the global results of the survey this year. The top hardest jobs to fill globally are skilled trades, sales representatives, technicians and engineers, according to the survey of more than 35,000 employers across 36 countries, which included 2,000 U.S. employers. Significantly, these are the same top jobs that employers have reported struggling to fill for the past four years, suggesting that there is an ongoing, systemic global shortage in these areas. “Unemployment levels remain high in the U.S., yet employers continue to have difficulty filling select positions,” said Jonas Prising, Manpower president of the Americas. “The issue is not a lack of candidates, but rather a talent mismatch. There are not enough sufficiently skilled people in the right places at the right times.” Among the 36 countries where the survey was conducted, employers in three countries report having less difficulty filling key positions than those in the U.S.: Norway (11 percent), U.K. (nine percent) and Ireland (four percent). Employers having the most difficulty finding the right people to fill jobs are those in Japan (76 percent), Brazil (64 percent), Argentina (53 percent), Singapore (53 percent), Poland (51 percent), Australia (45 percent), Hong Kong (44 percent), Mexico (43 percent), Peru (42 percent), Taiwan (41 percent), China (40 percent), and Panama (38 percent).
