2 minutes
Skilled are in short supply - here’s how to find them
It’s good to see East Midlands unemployment again falling - this time to 4.8%.
East Midlands Chamber’s Director of Policy and Insight, Richard Blackmore, noted that unemployment continues to fall but remains above the same time last year.
What was interesting to me, as a recruitment specialist, is that Rick also mentioned the need for skills.
“The number of vacancies across the country has again reduced, but to make sure roles are filled, the Government needs to address skills reform,” he said, pointing out that this was a key ask in the Chamber’s pre-Election Manifesto for Growth.
More than half of respondents to the Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Survey tried to recruit in the second quarter of this year.
Yet nearly 70% of them said they’d had difficulty finding the right level of skills and experience.
This aligns with the ER team’s own recent experience that businesses continue to face significant challenges in recruiting skilled workers.
Why? The jobs market is very tight, with lower levels of unemployment (when compared on a historic scale) putting upward pressure on wages.
You’ll all have read the stories about the huge salaries being offered to some graduates with particular skills that are in short supply.
I’m not just talking about packages in traditionally competitive high-paying industries such as banking.
Skills in engineering, tech, and project management are also in short supply - and employers are increasingly willing to pay to get the people they need.
Government training initiatives are working to expand the pipeline of skilled graduates to fill these lucrative roles.
And projects such as the Leicester & Leicestershire Local Skills Improvement Plan are also being developed to take a strategic approach to providing people with the skills needed for regional businesses to thrive and economies to grow.
But, in the meantime, how can employers access the talent they need?
Put simply, local business leaders need recruitment strategies which:
- engage with local networks and institutions to get the pick of the talent
- participate in community events and job fairs to connect with candidates
- partner with local colleges and universities to create talent pipelines and offer internships that build strong relationships
- advertise in the right places and platforms to reach the right audiences
- review work arrangements and packages to attract talent
- develop an employer brand which demonstrates a positive company culture, perks and commitment to employee development
- build a streamlined hiring process - ranging from compelling job descriptions to timely communication and feedback.
The type of data published by the ONS, East Midlands Chamber and other sources is hugely useful in enabling us to understand the employment macroenvironment.
However, it is also within the employers' gift to look at their microenvironment, identifying positive change can be made to make roles attractive and bring in the most skilled employees.
