Industry talent shortages while many out of job

Industry talent shortages while many out of job

Unemployment has reached record levels in many countries. Yet more than a third of employers around the world are still having trouble filling vacancies, according to a Manpower Group survey of nearly 40,000 employers in 41 countries. Workers in skilled trades (electricians, plumbers, bricklayers and so on) are in shortest supply, followed by engineers and sales people. Talent shortages are most acute in Asia, particularly in Japan where an ageing population is exacerbating the problem. Only in France has the proportion of employers struggling to find appropriate talent increased significantly since last year (from 20% to 29%). In Italy, by contrast, it has halved from 29% to 14%. Overall, employers are less concerned about the impact of skills shortages than they were in 2011. This may be because companies are becoming more comfortable conducting business in an uncertain environment where talent shortages persist.
There are a lot of commenters who seem to feel that the shortage of skilled workers is a fiction created by HR departments or unrealistic expectations. I work in manufacturing and there are real shortages out there in any profession that requires lengthy and difficult training. Chemical engineers (most engineers, really)are in short supply, in part because engineering grads often leave the field because banks, med schools, law schools, and most white collar professions would rather take a rigorously trained engineer over someone with a BA any day. Good instrument technicians, electricians, mechanics and pipe-fitters, all of which require long apprenticeships plus in-class training, are very hard to find.
We tell 18-year-old students to do what they love, and they take that advice and create time for an active social life plus video-game time by taking an undemanding major. Consequently they find they love college but are unprepared for life afterwards. The advice that I give my teenage kids is that by the time they hit 25, they need to have acquired marketable skills, through a professional degree or some other form of training. Those without marketable skills should be prepared to find employment unsatisfying, sporadic, and financially unrewarding. By all means, find something you enjoy doing, but don't forget you need those marketable skills. Life is not school. School is what you do before life really begins. Choose your school path to create the life experience you wish to have, not the school experience you enjoy now.
This chart highlights that growth areas of economies are in the manufacturing minerals/oil and gas sectors in economies like Brazil, Australia and the US, whereas a lot of the people struggling to find employment are from finance and other service industries.