Employers of the world’s top ten economies will experience a loss of productivity and reduction of turnover due to a growing shortage of skilled manpower in key positions. This is what a recent survey revealed, published by CareerBuilder and conducted among 6,000 recruitment managers and human resources professionals in the countries with the highest GDP.
These are highly skilled positions that have been vacant for a long time which directly challenge companies’ productivity and the performance of their turnover, and which also prevent them from developing their business. Chinese employers are the most affected by the situation since they are unable to fill 74% of open positions. The main consequence for them is a significant decline in performance. For Russian companies, loss of profits is the most significant consequence of the lack of qualified employees. Japanese employers rank themselves among those suffering the most in terms of expanding their businesses alongside the Chinese. In the United States, respondents mainly reported a loss of productivity, also behind China.
Negative effects on HR
For human resources management, employers reported in particular declining professional performance, poor quality work, decreased morale and high employee turnover. Companies most affected by the negative effects of positions that are vacant for long periods are those of the BRIC countries: China (81%), Brazil (74%), Russia (74%)and India (69%). Furthermore, these are the same ones with positions vacant for the longest time.
Highly skilled positions hard to fill
Employers worldwide are facing the greatest difficulties in recruiting qualified staff in the technical sector, specifically in the fields of engineering and computer science. In the United States and Europe, the sales function is also affected. Finally, positions in research and development are hard to fill in India, China and Japan.
Preparing professionals
According to Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder, the inability to fill highly skilled positions can have repercussions at several levels on the economic performance and expansion of a society, but it can also hinder creation of less skilled jobs. In the main world economies the situation is felt in strategic sectors such as technology, health and industry. He says the study underlines the importance for the public and private sectors as well as education institutions to collaborate together to prepare for requalifying professionals so that they can seize opportunities that contribute to economic growth.