Global labour force lacks right skills to support business
Mannheim (ots)
- Causes of unemployment go beyond state of economy, says new
report from Hays plc
- Unemployment and unfilled vacancies rising across global markets
- Global education systems failing to deliver requisite skills and
talent to employersThe global economy is facing a severe talent mismatch with 18 out of 30 leading economies facing some form of skills shortages while both unemployment levels and numbers of unfilled vacancies are rising. In many markets, the labour available does not meet the skill requirements that employers are looking for.
The depth of the recent recession does not explain the root causes of unemployment or why the job market fails to deliver the skills businesses need. Countries suffering from an underperforming economy such as Spain are no more likely to be able to provide workers with the skills necessary than economies which are performing strongly.
These are the findings of the Hays Global Skills Index 2013, a report published today by Hays plc, the leading global professional recruiting group, produced in collaboration with Oxford Economics. The report, titled 'The Great Talent Mismatch' and based on an analysis of professional employment markets across 30 major global economies, highlights the extent to which businesses and governments have to work together to build the right skills pipeline to deliver a sustainable recovery and growth.
The problem of talent mismatch spans several continents. The situation is particularly serious in the US, struggling with a jobless recovery; Spain, Portugal and Ireland, all badly affected by the Eurozone crisis; Japan, struggling with a generation of economic stagnation and deflation, and the UK where the current economic recovery is exposing a lack of skills across multiple industries.
Sentiment is improving across a number of markets, but action from both government and the business community is required to address on- going skills shortages by allowing skilled labour markets to operate more flexibly, aligning education policy far more closely with economic needs and ensuring the widest possible group of skilled workers across all generations are participating in the labour market.
Hays' Chief Executive Alistair Cox said: "The Hays Global Skills Index highlights a major paradox in the world's skilled labour markets. Employers across the globe are struggling to find enough people with the right set of skills for the posts they have available, even as millions of people remain unemployed. It is too easy to lay the blame for unemployment at the door of the global recession. The fact is, there is more that governments and businesses can and should do in order to develop the right talent pipeline and assure their future prosperity.
"The supply of people with the right skills is the foundation for every successful organisation and finding the right person for a job can transform businesses, people's lives and make societies stronger. There are no easy answers to fixing today's problems in the world's skilled labour markets. However, we believe the principles outlined in our recommendations are relevant across the globe and should enable real progress towards addressing structural problems within international labour markets. Each and every one of us will reap significant benefits from this in the long-term."
Hays Global Skills Index key findings:
- There is no clear link between economic performance of a
country and the efficiency of its labour markets. Employment
policies and educational policies, not economic conditions are
the keys to tackling the global talent mismatch
- Few countries have educational systems that deliver the skills
required to provide employers with the skills they need
- Most countries have inflexible supplies of labour, indicating
key groups of working age are not participating in the labour
market
- Developing economies such as China and India have highly
flexible workforces, but inflexible educational systems in
these countries mean skills provision through education is
unlikely to adapt effectively to changing economic conditions
- In most countries, skilled labour markets have tightened over
the past year.Notes on methodology The Hays Global Skills Index creates a score for each country of between 0 and 10 to measure the constraints and frictions being faced by its market for skilled labour. This is calculated through an analysis of seven components, covering areas such as education levels, labour market flexibility, and high-skill wage pressures.
A score above the mid-point of 5.0 suggests that employers are witnessing difficulties finding the key skills they need and are suffering market friction, whilst a score below 5.0 indicates a lax labour market in which there are no major constraints on the supply of skilled labour. Within these overall scores however, the scores attributed to each of the seven components can vary significantly, highlighting the different dynamics and pressures faced by each country.
About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2013 the Group employed 7,840 staff operating from 239 offices in 33 countries across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2013:
- the Group reported net fees of £719 million and operating profit
(pre-exceptional items) of £125.5 million;
- the Group placed around 53,000 candidates into permanent jobs
and around 182,000 people into temporary assignments;
- 29% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific, 40% in
Continental Europe & RoW (CERoW) and 31% in the United Kingdom &
Ireland;
- the temporary placement business represented 59% of net fees and
the permanent placement business represented 41% of net fees;
- Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria,
Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, China, the Czech
Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India,
Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the
Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USPressekontakt:
Frank Schabel
Tel.: 0621 1788 1140
E-Mail: frank.schabel@hays.de
Original content of: Hays AG, transmitted by news aktuell