MILWAUKEE, Wis., May 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ManpowerGroup (NYSE: MAN), today revealed that one in three employers globally report experiencing difficulty filling jobs due to lack of available talent, the highest percentage since before the recession in 2007, as the world leader in innovative workforce solutions released the results of its sixth annual Talent Shortage Survey.

    The hardest jobs to fill globally are technicians, sales representatives and skilled trades workers, according to ManpowerGroup's survey of almost 40,000 employers across 39 countries and territories. These are the same jobs that employers have reported having difficulty filling for the past four years, underlining the need to re-evaluate how they are recruiting for these positions.

    Regionally, employers in the Americas are having more trouble filling jobs than the global average, with 37% of employers reporting difficulty filling positions due to lack of available talent. This 37% represents the highest proportion of employers reporting difficulty since the start of the global economic downturn in 2008, and a 3% increase over last year's survey.

    The most difficult positions to fill in the Americas closely resemble those on the global list, with technicians, sales representatives, skilled trades workers and engineers leading the list of difficult vacancies. Vacancies for technicians are the most difficult to fill in the Americas for the fourth year in succession.

Jobs most in demand in 2011: 

1.  Technicians

2.  Sales Representatives

3.  Skilled Trades Workers

4.  Engineers

5.  Laborers

6.  Management/ Executives

7.  Accounting & Finance Staff

8.  IT Staff

9.  Production Operators
10. Secretaries, PAs, Admin Assistants, & Office Support Staff

11. Drivers

Technicians :

From aviation, automotive, solar, medical to refrigeration, there is a shortage for qualified technicians.  Some of the latest Newspaper article headings:

(1)   Boeing says concerted international government and industry cooperation is needed to avoid a crippling shortage of qualified pilots and technicians.

(2)   Shortage of qualified air-conditioning technicians has some customers having to wait 7 days for repairs.

(3)   Shortage of commercial vehicle technicians will continue.

(4)   The other industry that has a more severe technician shortage is the automotive collision and repair industry.

(5)   A severe shortage in diesel mechanics is predicted by industry experts.

(6)   Manpower Group’s sixth-annual Talent Shortage Survey revealed that 52% of U.S. employers are experiencing difficulty filling mission-critical  positions.

(7)   Tech skill shortage still exist – Chicago Tribune – July 15, 2011.

(8)   Ophthalmology technicians and Nursing shortage still with us.

(9)   Farmers are so short of farmhands that they have been unable to find the help they need to harvest crops.

(10) Medical laboratory technician shortage will continue due to demand for qualified workers.

Sales Representatives :

Sales Professionals Can Have a Promising Future

(This article is rather long, but well worth reading)

    Sales make the world go around. Stop and think about the role of sales in our lives. It goes way beyond what you are buying as a consumer, whether that's a new phone or the latest fashion trends.  Going to the doctor for some tests? Where do you think all of that equipment came from? Are you confident about the quality of your drinking water? Somewhere, it's being tested using a device that was sold for that purpose.

    What about that phone and your new clothes? Someone worked hard to get those items into the store so that you could buy them. The list goes on and on.  It's no wonder that skilled salespeople are in such high demand. It's a somewhat risky career choice, after all. While employment opportunities exist and excellent pay is possible, many salespeople rely heavily on their commissions to make a good living.

 
    Those are some of the reasons why sales representatives landed at the top of Manpower Inc.'s 2007 Talent Shortage Survey. The survey identified qualified salespeople as the most pressing worker shortage.   And it's a shortage that many professionals in the field would like to see filled.

    "Good salespeople can expect to earn a very good living," says Rita Allen. She is a retirement counselor who sells retirement community living. "I think the key is to find a sales position where the commissions are substantial per sale. Even though it's harder, it's better to make $1,000 per sale rather than $25 per sale."   Not only are commissions an issue, potential sales representatives also find that companies are seeking to fill very specific types of positions. "A lot of companies are looking for business development personnel," explains Anna Fredericks. She is with a sales association.

              
     “The customer”.   That's the person who will ultimately buy -- or not buy -- what the salesperson is trying to sell. And those customers have become much more demanding.   "Buyers have become far more sophisticated. It's no longer a matter of walking in with a proposal and walking out with an account," Fredericks confirms. "They are more educated and a lot of them have business degrees. They tend to know what is going on in the marketplace, with -- for example -- the salesperson's competitors. So they are very savvy."

    Sales used to be mostly about relationships, but salespeople say that is no longer the case. It may be the way in the door, but the salesperson has to work hard to continually show the value of what he or she is selling to the client. And that often requires more education, such as a business or marketing degree.   You also need a specific set of skills:

(1)    Communication Skills: Good communication skills are first and foremost.

(2)    Self-Direction: A lot of the sales business is about taking initiative.

(3)    Empathy: You have to be able to see the problem from the client's perspective.

(4)    Focus: You'll need to narrow down what the issues are in order to come up with the appropriate solution.

(5)    Responsibility: You'll also need to do whatever it takes to deliver a solution and ensure that the solution is working.

(6)    Optimism: This is an absolute must-have because there can be a lot of rejection in sales.

    You have to be able to focus on the fact that the customer is not rejecting you, they are rejecting the opportunity.  That can be hard for young people, who may have had a relatively easy time with their tasks up to that point.  Along with all of these skills, the best salespeople have a strong desire to work hard for the best return.    You must be very diligent. When you work, work. Then take time off and play. But don't mix the two.  For those who have the special skills and a strong work ethic, the compensation and lifestyle choices can be very good.

    Currently, salespeople with technical or scientific backgrounds are in high demand to sell items such as scientific instruments, lab equipment, remote sensing equipment, and monitoring, measuring and gauging equipment. Those who can knowledgably sell oil and gas equipment and diagnostic equipment could also land a good position.

     If someone wants to sell you something, let them try. Examine their techniques and you will learn. You should also seek out those that you know are great sales people. Ask anything that will give you new insights on how to deal with people.

Find a way to genuinely move the heart of your prospect. Trust-based selling is the easiest, most productive kind of selling.

Attend as many networking sessions as possible to make new contacts and watch other salespeople work. And you can be assured that your hard work will pay off.  The best thing about this profession is living the American dream.  You can make as much as you are willing to work for.    It is a great profession and well worth going after.

Skilled Trades Workers :

              

     Now that the new housing industry has come to an almost stop and home construction is way down. That must mean there must be an oversupply of carpenters, electricians and plumbers.  Actually, no. In the new report from the employment agency Manpower it says skilled workers like carpenters, electricians and plumbers are in very short supply. It has become a worldwide problem.

    Teenagers have for years been migrating to white collar jobs. Experts say one reason is the skilled trades have an image problem. Plumbing just isn't sexy.  Television shows like CSI, for example, have inspired new forensic science majors. But can you think of any shows that glorify plumbers or electricians.

    Not exactly riveting stuff. Manpower CEO Jeff Joerres says parents also share the blame for the lack of interest in the skilled trades. He says their mindset is "you're going to college. No matter what."  The mindset is to spend $30,000 and end up waiting tables after four years of college than to spend half of that and be productive with a career in the skilled trades.

    The keys to the shortage of skilled trades workers fall in three distinct areas.  The first is the word “skilled”.  The higher ones skill is, the higher their demand.  The second is geographic regions within the U. S.   Areas such as Florida have too many skilled trades people, while Virginia and other areas are experiencing a shortage.  The third key is what “skilled trades people” want, or demand for pay.  There are still air-conditioning techs. and plumbers who think they can still demand $65 to $75 per hour.  The economy is still in a recession, but will recover, service techs. are  needed and the demand for good people is on the rise, but those same highly skilled trades workers have to be real about their hourly worth.

Engineers :

From Time Magazine:   The U.S., the world's greatest technological civilization, is running short of engineers. For years it looked as if there would be a glut, not a shortage.

     “A chronic shortage of engineering students threatens America’s role as the world’s leading innovator and continues to impede our nation’s fragile economic recovery,” wrote Paul Otellini, a member of the President’s Council on Jobs, in a recent opinion piece for The Washington Post. The council is holding a series of meetings to find ways to fix a perceived national problem: an engineering shortage. Otellini and the council claim that such a shortage seriously threatens America’s ability to create jobs, and that the U.S. risks losing its innovation edge to China and India, which are producing a million engineers per year — 12 times as many as the United States. The council hopes to increase U.S. engineering output by 10,000 engineers per year in an effort to deal with this crisis.

    This may or may not be true, there have been arguments on both sides of the fence, but the United States does have a problem.  Some of its best engineers are not working in the engineering field, and some of its best potential engineers are not even studying engineering.  This causes the U.S. to be short-changed in solving some of the most important engineering problems.

Laborers :

    It seems a bit crazy to be talking about a labor shortage, when the more pressing issue is how to hold onto a job, or how to make your way out of unemployment and into a new job.  Is there really a labor shortage today?  Maybe not today, but as we come out of this recession there will be too small an amount of Post-Boomers and Teenagers to fill all of  the available jobs our economy will be generating.

    When the nation comes out of the current jobs recession - and this may take two to three years - we will begin to see spot shortages in labor markets. As the economy continues to improve, the spot shortages will become more general, and we will experience more shortages.  By 2018, with no change in current labor force participation rates or immigration rates and an expected return to healthy economic growth, we will have more jobs than people to fill them.

Management/ Executives:
 

(From an article in Fortune Magazine – May 20, 2011 By Elizabeth G. Olson, contributor)

Confronting the coming American worker shortage.   Predictions of a shortage of American math and science professionals have grown dire.
What can be done to bridge the gap?

FORTUNE -- With the job market inching toward recovery, most of America's collective attention is set squarely on the here and now. But signs of a coming shortage of skilled American workers have begun to draw concern from leaders in the public and private sectors, and for good reason.

    So dire are the predictions about the unprepared American worker that a group of executives from major companies appealed directly to state governors earlier this month, urging them to set higher standards for student proficiency in science and mathematics.

The group of executives, called Change The Equation, notes that only one fifth of today's 8th graders are proficient or advanced in math, citing figures from national educational assessments.

    
    Late last month, the group gave each state a report card on its science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education based on various factors including teacher licensing test results and student advanced placement test scores. If states do not set a meaningful bar for assessing these skills, the group warns, they risk contributing to the dilution of America's global competitiveness.

    The CEO-driven initiative launched last fall as part of the Obama administration's "Educate to Innovate" campaign in response to forecasts that the U.S. will be short as many as 3 million high-skills workers by 2018, according to a Georgetown University report issued last year. Two thirds of those jobs will require at least some post-secondary education, says Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown's Center on Education and the Workforce.

 
So is anything going to happen?

    Given current state and local budget squeezes, with teacher layoffs and the continued debate over whether education should be tightly tied to test results, it is doubtful that states will take any action -- like setting aside financial resources or raising standards for math and science.

But they should, maintain many executives, arguing that the United States is frittering away its lead in technology and education. American universities, for example, award about 500,000 bachelor's degrees in science and engineering each year, only about a third of the total degrees awarded by Asian universities. Worldwide, the United States ranks 17th in the number of science degrees it awards.

    
    For decades, companies have been sounding alarms by funding a plethora of projects, studies and surveys, and publicly advocating for more training and higher education standards for American workers. Millions of jobs that underpin the middle class "could go offshore" if the shortage of highly educated and credentialed workers persists, adds Georgetown's Carnevale.

    
    Some dispute this assertion, arguing that baby boomers will merely cut back on work -- not retire -- and the educated working ranks will remain plentiful. Carnevale disagrees, and stresses the importance of closing the widening skills gap with foreign nations.

Even so, the data behind the future of the workforce paints a complicated landscape. For example, the prestigious executive association Business Roundtable released a survey in December 2009 that asserts companies are making only modest efforts to address the "glaring and growing need" for post-high school education.

    
    Two thirds of employers surveyed say they require at least an associate's college degree for most positions. However, almost half of them do not provide -- or require -- ongoing education or skills training for their employees. It all comes down to costs, according to "The American Workforce," a survey of 600 executives as part of a Business Roundtable commission called the Springboard Project.

Addressing the problem

    Eighty percent of the 1,000 workers surveyed said that they understand the importance of having up-to-date skills but they are hindered by the cost, lack of convenient choices and absence of reliable information about the type of training they need. Flexible classroom hours, tuition reimbursement and online learning are among the solutions offered by the survey.

    
    To tackle the predicted lack of qualified workers, Raytheon Co., a major defense contractor, has developed software to help state educators, lawmakers and others develop tailored plans to improve math and science education and workforce policies.  Like other defense contractors and many government agencies, Raytheon needs homegrown talent because national security guidelines do not allow for easy outsourcing of work or importing workers, notes Brian Fitzgerald, executive director of the Business Higher Education Forum, a group of executives and educators devoted to improving education in math, science and related areas. Raytheon CEO and chairman William Swanson is the chair of the Forum.

    
    But recent research from the Forum shows that boosting the educational level of the workforce is a daunting pursuit. Only 16% of American students in their senior year of high school have both math proficiency and an interest in pursuing a career in the STEM disciplines, according to the research. And just under 60% of high school seniors are not proficient in math, so even if they are interested, their chances of landing a job in those fields are slim.

 
Accounting & Finance Staff:

(From an article in Accounting Today – May, 2011 - By:  Michael Cohn)

Talent Shortage in Accounting and Finance

    
    Experis discovered that finding well-qualified accounting and finance staff is one of the top 10 hiring challenges that employers face, ranking number five in its survey of top 10 toughest positions to fill in the U.S. 

    
    Accounting and finance roles have appeared on the top 10 list in 2006, 2007 and 2008, raising fears of an employability crisis. The most common reasons why employers say they are having trouble filling jobs include candidates who are looking for more pay than is offered, a lack of technical skills, and a lack of experience.

However, accounting and finance aren’t the only occupations where it’s difficult for employers to fill jobs.

    
    “One of the things that popped out of the survey was that the top three that are hardest to fill are accounting and finance staff, engineering and IT,” said Experis senior vice president and general manager Mike Barker. “All three of those professional skilled verticals fell into the hardest jobs to fill.”

    
    He insisted that was the case despite high unemployment levels. “If you look at the  unemployment figures, it’s a bit deceiving,” said Barker. “We have high unemployment, but in a lot of the skilled areas, unemployment is low. The employers are getting more and more specific about the skills they need.

 
IT Staff :

The Skills Shortage in the Information Technology Market

    However, for companies in a variety of industrial sectors, there is a shortage of information technology professionals with the right skills to keep their networks and computers running. The problem isn’t with the quality of candidates but the fact that over the last decade more information technology positions have cropped up faster than the supply of university graduates.

 
Production Operators :

How to Confront the Talent Crisis in Manufacturing

November 9, 2011

by Jeff Schwartz

 
    A strong manufacturing base is viewed as fundamental to the economic success and effectiveness of the U.S., both in terms of its role in the economy and its function as a job engine. Yet, the results of a recent survey of U.S. manufacturers conducted by Deloitte with the National Manufacturing Institute highlight a worsening talent shortage that threatens the future of the industry.

    
    Among the survey's 1,123 respondents, 67 percent reported a moderate to severe shortage of available qualified workers and 56 percent anticipate this shortage to grow worse in the next three to five years. Additionally, results reveal that 5 percent of current jobs are unfilled because qualified candidates cannot be found. When asked to look ahead three to five years, respondents indicate that access to a highly skilled, flexible workforce is the single most important factor for their future business success, well ahead of other factors, including new product innovation and increased market share.

The manufacturing industry, like many industries, is undergoing a rapid evolution spurred by technology advances, globalization and shifting demographics. An aging and retiring workforce, combined with technological advances, outmoded talent recruitment and management processes, and continued global expansion are taking their toll. The shortage of qualified workers has been a serious issue for years, which begs the question, what must be done differently in order to achieve the results necessary to be effective, especially in the face of growing global competition?

    
    The talent challenges facing U.S. manufacturers are, to some extent, illustrative of the challenges facing a host of industries worldwide. As such, understanding the factors contributing to this performance-threatening skills gap is instructive.

    
    The jobs most difficult to fill are those with the greatest impact on performance. The most significant need is in the skilled production sector, which may also face the largest skills shortages in the near future, as an increasing number of workers age or retire. Shortages in skilled production jobs, such as machinists, operators, craft workers, distributors, and technicians, are taking a toll on manufacturers' ability to expand operations, drive innovations, and improve productivity.

Nearly 75 percent of respondents indicated that workforce shortages or skills deficiencies in these areas are significantly impacting their ability to expand operations or improve productivity. Fully 80 percent of respondents indicated that machinists, operators, craft workers, distributors, and technician positions will be hardest hit by retirements in the upcoming years. Recruitment is exacerbated by the persistently poor perception of manufacturing jobs among younger workers; among 18-24 year-olds, manufacturing ranks dead last among industries in which they would choose to start their careers.

High unemployment is not making it easier to fill positions, particularly in the areas of skilled production and production support. As many as 600,000 jobs are going unfilled simply because manufacturers are unable to find people with the necessary skills. Some respondents suggest that the national education curriculum is not producing workers with the basic skills needed, a trend unlikely to improve in the near term.

    
    As the industry has changed -- redesigned and streamlined production lines, more process automation -- the nature of the work required is changing. Manufacturers surveyed indicate that current trends actually demand more skilled workers. This changing nature of work is consistent across manufacturing industry sectors and companies of all sizes. All employers will continue to require more from their employees; all are feeling the impact of an increasingly acute talent crunch.

Inadequate problem-solving skills topped the list of the most serious skill deficiencies in their current employees, followed by a lack of basic technical training and inadequate basic employability skills. Notably, inadequate math, reading, and writing skills weren't seen as being as serious as other concerns in most sectors; some sectors such as aerospace and defense, and process manufacturing rated lack of technical training as their most serious deficiency. While national and state educational curricula efforts may be discretely addressing certain skills, there continues to be a lack of broader problem-solving abilities. Skills such as critical thinking enable employees to digest, analyze, and communicate information, and are essential across a broad range of disciplines.

 

Secretaries, PAs, Admin Assistants, & Office Support Staff

By:  Kathy Bauger  -  August, 2011

 
    In the economic recovery that doesn't feel like a recovery -- where "the new normal" is about uncertainty and scaled-back expectations -- it's only fitting that while unemployment remains high it seems as if it's harder than ever to fill open staff positions. A recent study from workforce solutions company ManpowerGroup found that one in three employers globally report having difficulty filling jobs due to a lack of available talent. The top 10 hard-to-fill jobs in the survey are technicians; sales representatives; skilled trades workers; engineers; laborers; management/executives; accounting and finance staff; IT staff; production operators; and secretaries, PAs, administrative assistants and office support staff. Almost all of these categories are essential to the successful operations of an insurance company.

   
     Nearly all (90 percent) of the respondents to the ManpowerGroup survey cited "candidate-specific factors" such as a lack of necessary skills and experience, insufficient qualifications, and lack of "soft skills" as the biggest obstacles to filling open spots. This means that "The world stands on the brink of a global employability crisis where there is an over-supply of available workers and an undersupply of qualified talent," the company warns in its summary of the research.

    
    In this context, what might at first be construed as very positive and encouraging news -- the fact that 44 percent of insurers plan to increase their employee head counts during 2011 (with technology cited as one of the most in-demand positions), according to the most recent Insurance Labor Outlook Study conducted by The Jacobson Group and Ward Group -- actually is quite alarming. Where are carriers going to find people with the array of skills needed to fill critical positions in areas ranging from IT to sales to claims administration to accounting to risk analysis? Are they going to have to settle for less-qualified candidates just to get some warm bodies in-house? Without the right talent, what does it mean for growth strategies, IT projects and regulatory compliance? And perhaps most important, do insurers have a meaningful strategy for identifying, attracting and hiring the best and the brightest?

    
    Blame the schools, emerging markets, regulation, demographic trends or competing industries, but at the end of the day it falls on insurance companies themselves to address the skills and talent shortages and come up with new career models. Just as products and delivery channels are becoming increasingly customized based on insight into customers, job descriptions and career paths probably are going to have to be tailored to the capabilities and expectations of individual employees -- another unsettling prospect in this increasingly topsy-turvy world.

 

Drivers :

 
A shortage of drivers has trucking companies offering to pay recruits while they're training.

By Mark Puente, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Saturday, August 13, 2011
 

    Gary Jones lost his job in December after working in construction for nearly 30 years. At 55 and retirement still years away, he needed a new career and a steady paycheck. He got his wish.   Jones recently juggled six job offers and expects to earn $40,000 over the next year by joining the ranks of the 3.5 million truckers who shuttle freight on American roads. The transportation industry needs a lot more people like Jones to fill a nationwide shortage of truckers that may hit 300,000 next year.

"People can't find jobs in Florida," said Jones of Wesley Chapel. "This is an avenue to pursue."   It sure is, although it seems odd there would be a shortage of truck drivers with a national unemployment rate of 9.1 per cent (10.6 percent in Florida) and the economy just stumbling along.

    New standards enacted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration forced carriers to scrutinize the employment, driving and criminal histories of applicants — weeding out many problem drivers. That, coupled with carriers gutting recruiting departments and downsizing fleets during the Great Recession, triggered the shortage.

The new rules have caused an operational hardship, although safer drivers on the road are better for the public, said Bob Costello, chief economist at the American Trucking Association.  He calls the shortage "a quality issue, not a quantity issue." On the flip side, "drivers who have good records are in high demand," he said. The shortage has prompted the group to launch a nationwide recruiting campaign.

    Many jobs have starting wages higher than $35,000. Advertisements litter billboards, the Internet and print publications. Still, to the bafflement of the trucking industry, the calls go unanswered.  "The pool of applicants just isn't there to fill these jobs," said Mary Lou Rajchel, president of the Florida Trucking Association. "The doors are open to hire professional truckers."   The days of people wanting to grab a CB radio while steering 80,000-pound rigs across the freeways are waning as baby boomers approach the twilight of their careers.

    "The younger generation is not willing to do this work," said Doc Hyder, president of Rowland Transportation in Dade City.

Hyder is seeing more turnover among his 91 drivers as they test the waters at other firms. Shipping costs will rise as carriers battle for drivers, he said.  "It will lead to higher wages for drivers," he said. "It's what they deserve."

For years, the industry battled negative stereotypes made famous by movies like Smokey and the Bandit and news stories about problem drivers moving between carriers in the same week.
 

    That era seems over, now that new federal requirements make it harder for problem drivers fired by one carrier to be hired by another. Companies now have easier access to driver records on crashes and roadside-inspections.
 

    More than 100,000 truckers work in Florida. The career does have a downside and isn't a 9-to-5 job with weekends at home. Drivers exchange their beds for bunks inside rigs and eat at roadside diners in small town America. Rest areas or truck stops become home for weeks at a time.

The industry is battling a turnover rate of 35 percent, said Noel Perry, a partner in FTR Associates of Nashville, Ind., which researches the trucking and freight industries.  He pegs the current shortage at 124,000 drivers and expects it to hit 300,000 next year. Everybody in America will be affected, Perry said, adding: "It means we will be paying more for everything we buy. This problem will certainly get worse." 

    Many carriers entice applicants with free training or tuition reimbursement if they'll commit to working for a certain period of time. Unfortunately, some carriers exclude Florida hires because the state isn't in their traffic lanes, adding to the challenge of getting drivers home for their days off.

The economy is making it hard for others to pay for training.  Kenneth Whittington, vice president of operations for Roadmaster Drivers School of Tampa, said about 350 people took the course in the last year. The $6,500 tuition, he said, is a deterrent.  "It's a shame," he said. "We've got carriers who will hire everybody we produce."

Trucking is an amazing career with the potential to make great money ($35 - $60k your first year), see the country, experience adventure, overcome challenges, and even be your own boss.

Trucking can be all that...

IF you know just what you're getting into, get the right training, and you have an expert guide to show you the way!    FREE DETAILS