Benefits February 21, 2006

Manpower Survey Reveals Serious Talent Shortages

February 21, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Forty percent of employers worldwide are having difficulty finding suitable talent to fill positions, according to a Manpower Inc. Talent Shortage Survey.
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According to a press release, Mexico (78%), Canada (66%) and Japan (58%) report the most difficulty finding talented employees, while the talent shortage appears to be least problematic in India, where only 13% of employers reported having difficulty filling positions.

The top 10 jobs that employers are having difficulty filling across the 23 countries and territories surveyed are (ranked in order) are:

  1. Sales Representatives
  2. Engineers
  3. Technicians (primarily production/operations, engineering and maintenance)
  4. Production Operators
  5. Skilled Manual Trades (primarily carpenters, welders and plumbers)
  6. IT Staff (primarily programmers/developers)
  7. Administrative Assistants/Personal Assistants
  8. Drivers
  9. Accountants
  10. Management/Executives

Jeffrey Joerres, Chairman & CEO of Manpower Inc., said in the release that the top three talent shortages are identical in North America and Asia.

According to Joerres, “In 10 years, we will see many businesses failing because they haven’t planned ahead for the talent shortage and are unable to find the people they need to run their businesses. This is not a cyclical trend, as we have seen in the past, this time the talent crunch is for real, and it’s going to last for decades.”

Manpower Inc’s survey of nearly 33,000 employers, as well as a White Paper discussing the talent shortage problem, can be found at http://www.manpower.com/ResearchCenter .

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