Salary survey

Feb. 21, 2006

Worldwide ‘talent shortage’ seen by employers

Survey shows that 40% of companies looking for workers having trouble finding qualified candidates

ZURICH, Switzerland (Reuters) - Employers are having difficulty finding the right people to fill jobs despite high unemployment in Europe and the United States, a survey by U.S.-based staffing firm Manpower showed Tuesday.

The survey conducted late in January showed that 40 percent of nearly 33,000 employers in 23 countries across the world were struggling to find qualified job candidates.

“The talent shortage is becoming a reality for a larger number of employers around the world,” Manpower’s CEO and Chairman Jeffrey Joerres said in a statement. “Across North America and Asia, the top three talent shortages are identical—sales representatives rank number one, followed by engineers and technicians,” Joerres said.

“Employers are telling us that they are not just looking for bodies to fill sales jobs, they want experienced sales people who know their respective industries and can drive revenues.”

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Joerres said that in 10 years’ time, many businesses would fail because they had not planned ahead for the talent shortage and would be unable to find the people they need to run their businesses.

“This is not a cyclical trend, as we have seen in the past, this time the talent crunch is for real, and it’s going to last for decades,” he added.

Recruitment firms have benefited from global trends such as outsourcing and better economic growth worldwide.

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