A talent shortage has led to 42 per cent of Australian employers struggling to fill roles despite national unemployment at 6.1 per cent, a survey has found.
Human resource and recruitment company Manpower Group Australia surveyed more than 1500 businesses and found one quarter of Australian companies were not currently implementing any tactics to curb the impact of the talent shortage.
In the annual survey, skilled trades were remained the hardest roles to fill.
This year management and executive positions came in at second hardest role to fill, up from ranked fifth in 2014.
Engineers dropped from second position in 2014 to fourth in the 2015 survey.
The results also show the impact these talent shortages have to business; 46 per cent said that skills shortages reduced their ability to serve clients, 33 per cent said it reduced their organisations’ competitiveness and productivity, and 23 per cent said it lowered employee engagement and morale.
ManpowerGroup Australia and New Zealand managing director Lincoln Crawley said the rate at which Australian employers were dropping initiatives to tackle the skills shortage was alarming and disappointing.
“Globally we have seen the number of businesses taking on strategies to counter the talent shortage increase,” he said.
“While on home soil this number has dropped dramatically over a 12 month period. Australian employers are giving up. It is imperative to the local economy that our workforce is able to compete on the world stage. There has never been a better time for business to focus on developing work practices that will enable them to compete for talent long-term.”
Mr Crawley said employers that failed to innovate risked becoming irrelevant to the new generation of workers.
2015 TOP 10 HARDEST JOBS TO FILL
These are the roles ManpowerGroup identified as hardest to fill in Australia this year:
1. Skilled Trades
2. Management / Executive (Management/Corporate)
3. Sales Representatives
4. Engineers
5. Technicians
6. Labourers
7. Accounting & finance staff
8. Drivers
9. IT Staff
10. Secretaries, PAs, Receptionists, Administrative assistants & Office support staff
2014 TOP 10 HARDEST JOBS TO FILL
And last year ManpowerGroup identified these roles as hardest to fill in Australia:
1. Skilled Trades
2. Engineers
3. Sales Representatives
4. Accounting & Finance Staff
5. Management / Executive (Management/Corporate)
6. IT Staff
7. Technicians
8. Sales Managers
9. Doctors and other non-nursing health professionals
10. Drivers
