Survey Reveals Talent is Elusive

Manpower New Zealand: Annual Survey Reveals Talent is Elusive – Everywhere Yet Nowhere – as Shortages Persist in Key Roles Despite Available Job Seekers

Wanted in New Zealand: Engineers, Management/Executive and Sales Representatives

New Zealand (20 May 2010) – Manpower New Zealand today released the results of its fifth Manpower Talent Shortage Survey, revealing persistent talent shortages in many countries and industry sectors, with 31% of employers worldwide and 30% of employers in New Zealand having difficulty filling key positions within their organisation.

The top hardest to fill jobs globally are Skilled Trades, Sales Representatives, Technicians and Engineers according to the survey of more than 35,000 employers across 36 countries. 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. Here in, New Zealand, the most difficult jobs to fill are Engineers, Management/ Executive and Sales Representatives, all three of which have remained in the top ten skills shortage list for the past five years.

The percentage of New Zealand employers finding it difficult to fill positions has dropped significantly since 2008 as a result of recession, falling from 47% in 2008 to 39% in 2009 and hitting 30% this year. According to Mr Chris Riley, General Manager of Manpower New Zealand, the lower number reflects the fact that New Zealand is yet to see the full effect of economic recovery.

“We’re beginning to see signs of recovery in the New Zealand jobs market, with unemployment falling across the region. And while the results of the Talent Shortage Survey show a fall in the level of skills shortages over the last year, a reviving economy means it won’t take long before the war for talent heats up again,” said Mr Riley.

Even during recession, New Zealand was experiencing chronic skills shortages, said Mr Riley.

“Engineers and sales representatives have remained at the top of New Zealand’s ‘most wanted’ skills list for the past five years and this shortage is only going to become more profound in recovery. It’s clearly time to make a change to employer strategies in order to cope with such long term shortages,” he said.

Mr Riley said that we are seeing a ‘jobless’ recovery in many parts of the world - where economic growth isn’t matched by jobs growth. Yet where there are jobs available, employers are having difficulty filling positions.

“The issue is not about the number of potential candidates, but rather a talent mismatch, because there are not enough sufficiently skilled people in the right places at the right times. Compounding the issue is that employers are seeking ever more specific skill sets and are less willing to engage in anticipatory hiring. This all adds up to a very challenging and frustrating time for employers and job seekers alike,” he said.

Jobs most in demand in 2010 in New Zealand Jobs most in demand in 2009 in
New Zealand
1. Engineers 1. Sales representatives
2. Management/Executive (Management/Corporate) 2. Engineers
3. Sales representatives 3. Technicians
4. Skilled Trades 4. Accounting & finance staff
5. IT staff 5. IT staff
6. Technicians 6. Production operators
7. Labourers 7. Skilled manual trades
8. Sales Manager 8. Management/Executive (Management/Corporate)
9. Accounting & finance staff 9. Customer service representatives and customer support
10. Customer service representatives & customer support 10. Researcher (R&D)

Manpower’s Fresh Perspectives Paper Teachable Fit: A New Approach for Easing the Talent Mismatch, also released today, offers advice for employers to broaden their search for candidates to include industry migrants, location migrants, role changers and workforce entrants. Training and development are key to successfully tapping into these talent pools.

“By broadening their search for talent in untapped pools, employers can leverage candidates that may not be a precise fit but instead are a “teachable fit,” added Mr Riley. “It matters less what technical skills, although still important, an individual mastered in the past, and matters more that an individual possess the capacity, capability and motivation to learn new skills in the future.”

Globally, employers having the most difficulty finding the right people to fill jobs are those in Japan (76%), Brazil (64%), Argentina (53%), Singapore (53%), Poland (51%), Australia (45%), Hong Kong (44%), Mexico (43%), Peru (42%), Taiwan (41%), China (40%), and Panama (38%).

Compared to 2009, employers are reporting that talent shortages are considerably less pervasive in Romania (down 26 percentage points), Taiwan (down 21 percentage points), and South Africa (down 19 percentage points).

The complete results of Manpower’s global talent shortage survey and Fresh Perspectives Paper Teachable Fit: A New Approach for Easing the Talent Mismatch can be downloaded at http://www.manpower.co.nz/research/.

ENDS

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