Whether you and your recruiting team are feeling the pressure now or not, the skill gap is poised to continue in a big way, well into the next decade. This new roadblock for employers looking for the right talent isn’t going away any time soon, and it’s changing the world of recruiting. Take a look at a few eye-opening US skill gap stats from across the internet.
Although 11 million US workers are unemployed, there are 4 million jobs unfilled. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)
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Most would attribute this disconnect with the skill gap. While there are many job opportunities for these 11 million unemployed, they simply don’t have the skills necessary to fill the majority of these positions.
Employment in professional, scientific and technical services is projected to grow 29% 2020. This increase will add more than two million new jobs to the US economy. (Source: STEM Smart Brief Report)
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Sounds like good news right? Well that same study projects that most of these two million new positions will have to be filled workers from outside of the US due to the lack of fundamental STEM kills in US graduates. It sounds like these fields are on point to get even more competitive in the very near future. Employers are going to have to get creative, engaging and aggressive in their STEM recruiting practices.
49% of employers plan to train workers who don’t have experience in their industries and hire them in 2014, that figure is up 10% since 2013. (Source: Careerbuilder Study)
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Many employers are beefing up their training programs to help bridge the skill gap. Training not only fills those talent holes, it makes sense when considering sourcing, recruiting and new employee productivity acclimation costs associated with external hires.
70% of organizations cite “capability gaps” as one of their top five challenges. (Source: Bersin Deloitte)
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Even just one year ago there were nay-sayers all over the internet questioning the validity of the alleged skill gap. Many employers and recruiters believed that when companies started having trouble sourcing and recruiting the right talent, they simply weren’t being competitive enough with their compensation practices. As we get deeper into the year, more and more employers and recruiters are coming forward and voicing their mounting concern with this talent acquisitions issue.
35% of all employers have positions that stay open for 12 weeks or longer. (Source: Harris Poll)
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Here’s another interesting fact from the aforementioned Careerbuilder study; Did you know that, on average, a company loses more than $14,000 for every job that stays vacant for three months or longer? That amounts to huge losses for a great percentage of employers. The harder the right candidates are to come across, the longer these positions will stay open; and it doesn’t look like it will get any easier any time soon.
As the skill gap continues to grow, it’s important for recruiters to keep a finger on the pulse of what’s happening. These talent shortages are going to force employers to look at attraction, retention and training in a whole new light. If you are looking for information on upping your recruiting game and beefing up your training program, we’re just the people to ask! Get in contact today so we can help you get competitive with your talent acquisitions and development.
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