Archives for Employment

The worldwide talent shortage, one that may eventually constrain corporate growth, is once again in the news. BusinessWeek ponders the question, “Where Are All the Workers?” The authors note that the global labor crunch is striking unusual places such as Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, and in Peoria, Illinois.

The authors argue, quite correctly, that corporate downsizing has run out of gas (except of course at Citigroup) and that demand for labor even in Asia is outstripping the supply of workers with marketable skills. Labor constraints have spurred some employers to boost in-house training and slacken skill requirements for new hires.

In a poll, Manpower, the staffing giant, said 41 percent of employers it polled worldwide are finding it hard to fill jobs. “There are specific skills shortages throughout various economies, rather than a labor shortage,” said Varina Nissen, Manpower SVP of Global Marketing & Communications.

Interestingly, employers, particularly in the U.S. and Japan have not sought to boost pay just to fill vacancies, according to BusinessWeek. That could change, but mainly for skilled labor in my view.

Think of the global labor supply-and-demand curve depicting unaligned axes, one for skilled and one for unskilled workers. Workers with ‘hot skills’ are in short-supply worldwide; but millions of other, mostly non-technical workers or generalists are having a difficult time finding high-paying positions.

Manpower’s study across 27 countries and territories finds that the Top 10 “Most Difficult to Fill” Jobs are these:

1. Sales Representatives
2. Skilled Manual Trades
3. Technicians (primarily production/operations, engineering or maintenance)
4. Engineers
5. Accounting & Finance Staff
6. Laborers
7. Production Operators
8. Drivers
9. Management/Executives
10. Machinists/Machine Operators

Source: Manpower  (March 2007)
Notes: Total Number of Respondents: 36,629; Margin of error: +/- 3.9%

Is this just a temporary condition or have we reached some kind of turning point?