It is a strange paradox that on one hand good jobs are hard to find and in the same breath economies like US & Japan face a shortage of skilled workers. According to a report done by staffing services giant ManpowerGroup, around 34% of employers around the globe were unable to fill positions due lack of talented staff. This includes engineers and other in-demand employees.
Recession has taken a bite out of most pay packets and resulted in layoffs and employers are still hesitant to fill in the positions, which according to ManpowerGroup is a very short-term approach to the problem. As a solution many companies are self-training certain staff to fill in the positions.
If we focus on Japan then one of the top reasons for not finding appropriate candidates is the language barrier. Besides this, soft issues like motivation and lack of enthusiasm is deterring managers from hiring new people. Experience is another reason cited and since students are taking a longer time to graduate, vocational subjects and technical programs are on a decline. As the older staff retires, young recruitments are at a standstill, and if the disparity continues it will take a long time for it to resolve. The list of in-demand jobs includes sales representatives, technicians, drivers, laborers, information technology staff, accounting and finance workers, chefs and managers.
Manpower polled 40,000 employers in 41 countries and territories. Brazil, Bulgaria, Australia and the United States follow Japan in the countdown for countries having trouble filling out employment.