Dive Brief:
- Although businesses said they’re generally optimistic about their prospects in 2017, they expect challenges in talent recruitment, reports Staffing Industry Analysts.
- About 62% of the businesses in the Employer Associations of America’s 2017 National Business Trends Survey said recruiting has become more difficult, and that 31% of them aren’t satisfied with their recruiting efforts. About half, or 48%, of survey respondents plan to hire more people, with talent acquisition being their highest priority.
- Businesses said the most difficult positions to recruit were professionals, highly skilled production managers and middle managers with high potential. They cited entry-level workers as the hardest employees to retain.
Dive Insight:
Shortages in skilled labor make talent recruiting more difficult. About 41% of businesses in the survey said skilled labor shortages were a short-term problem, while 50% saw the problem as long term. Businesses have wrestled with the problem for more than a few decades. They might need to partner with schools to make sure students are being taught the skills most in demand in the workplace.
Temporary jobs have lead the way in hiring within the past decade, perhaps reflecting problems with poor retention and lack of skills. Temp jobs or hiring contractors has long been seen as a way around these problems. Technology should also be making the process less time-consuming and costly.
