Impossible jobs: these are the jobs which are not filled
2015/06/25
There is a lack of talent and the new professional skills and competencies are scarce. This is the only explanation for the fact that a large number of jobs are not filled in a landscape dominated by unemployment.
It is not jobs which nobody wants, which are embarrassing, and it is not a matter of there not being employment offers either. The paradox is that in the labour market there are many jobs which are quite difficult – if not impossible – to fill: Skilled trade workers (especially chefs, bakers, mechanics and electricians) and sales representatives are the most difficult vacancies to fill by employers all over the world, followed by technicians, engineers and, oddly enough, drivers (above all truck and heavy equipment or construction drivers).
In the Spanish State the jobs which are the most difficult to fill are technicians, skilled trades and engineers
It seems to be a contradiction but in spite of the high unemployment rate there are job vacancies which are not filled. According to the recent report 2015 Talent Shortage Survey by the Manpower Group, it can be concluded that much more serious than the incidence of unemployment is the shortage of talent in numerous profiles and certainly the lack of the necessary capacities and skills which, incredible as it may seem, lead to a lack of suitable candidates. This reduces the competitiveness of the organizations and their ability to serve clients; implies a decrease in engagement and reduces innovation and creativity while at the same time requiring increasingly higher compensation costs.
Paradoxically enough, it is difficult to find certain competencies which imply an adaptation and which not all the candidates have. It must also be taken into account that very few organizations are implementing the necessary strategies to solve the deficit in talent attraction. And this is essential to operate in the new market models which are emerging.
To the jobs which are difficult to fill in this Top 5 of impossible jobs we must add management and executives; finance and accounting staff (above all financial analysts); secretaries, assistants and office support staff; IT staff (developers and programmers, database administrators and IT managers); and production operators.
The Spanish State, which according to the report –together with the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland- is among those with fewer difficulties filling job vacancies, has its own idiosyncrasy as regards jobs which are difficult to fill: in addition to those which have been mentioned above in the global employment market, our country has difficulty filling jobs in nursing, teaching and legal staff.
Many companies do not adopt strategies to solve the talent attraction deficit
To solve this problem, employers will have to be able to design new practices for the potential candidates, redefining the qualifying criteria. It seems obvious that the same old recruitment practices will not yield different results.
The survey, which reports the opinions of nearly 50,000 hiring managers in 42 countries, adds the need to “foster a learning culture and encourage employees to own their careers. It is necessary to adopt an agile mindset to explore untapped pools to source new talent, and candidates should be aware of the fact that they must have and know how to sell their unique employee value proposition, turned into a reference”.
