2018 TALENT SHORTAGE SURVEY

Solving theTalent Shortage
Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge

With record talent shortages around the world, employers should
shift their focus from just in time hiring strategies to becomingbuilders of talent for today and tomorrow. Developing the right blendof people, skills, processes and technology is the only way to execute
your business strategy, create value and improve people’s lives.
With new assessments, big data and predictive performance wehave the best tools to identify adjacent skills, help people shift into
emerging roles and create clear career paths.
For individuals, the appetite for learning and continuous upskilling
will be the route to better employment security. For organizations,creating a culture of learnability so that people are equipped andopen to adapt — to move within the company or elsewhere — is notjust an operational imperative it must be a strategic priority.
In this Skills Revolution this is how we will find solutions to talent
shortages, accelerate growth and help people build new skills forsustainable, meaningful careers for the long term.

45% of employers saythey can’t find theskills they need

2 | 2018 Talent Shortage Survey

Jonas Prising
Chairman & CEO
ManpowerGroupCONTENTS
Introduction | 4
Talent Shortages Reach 12-Year High | 5
Top 10 Most In-Demand Skills | 6
Why Employers Can’t Find the Talent They Need | 7
The Talent Shortage Conundrum: What Employers are Doing Today | 8
Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge: Overcoming Talent Shortages in the Future | 10
About the Research | 12

Solving the Talent Shortage: Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge | 3

In the digital age, technology is transforming how work gets done, creating
new roles that require new skills. At the same time, organizations are
increasing headcount in 42 of the 43 countries and territories that wesurvey and many markets are nearing full employment.1 As a result, talent
shortages are more acute than they have been for decades.

Q

TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT ON COMPANIES,WE ASKED 39,195 EMPLOYERS IN

43 COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES:• How much difficulty are you having filling roles compared to last year?
• Which skills – hard skills and human strengths ­– are the most difficult
to find, and why?
• What are you doing to solve talent shortages?

We found that more employers than ever are struggling to fillopen jobs. Forty-five percent say they can’t find the skills theyneed, and for large organizations (250+ employees) it’s evenhigher, with 67% reporting talent shortages in 2018.
Every industry is impacted. From manufacturing to mining, transport
to trade, employers cannot find the people they need with the right
blend of technical skills and human strengths. Keeping pace in thisSkills Revolution demands faster, more targeted upskilling and talentmanagement than ever before. It’s time for a new approach to thebig talent problem: it’s time to build, buy, borrow and bridge toensure we have the in-demand skills for today and tomorrow.
As global workforce experts, we find work for millions of people every
year across 80 countries and territories, helping hundreds of thousandsof companies attract, assess, develop and retain right-skilled workers.
This report combines our unique insight with 12 years of data from ourglobal talent shortage survey, the largest human capital study of its
kind. It provides practical solutions to help employers understand theskills they need, identify the greatest potential and find the best talent
for the digital age.

SOLVING THE TALENTSHORTAGE: BUILD, BUY,BORROW AND BRIDGE

1

Invest inlearning
anddevelopment

BUILD

2

Go to market
to attract the
talent thatcannot bebuilt in-house

BUY

Cultivatecommunitiesof talent
beyond theorganization

BORROW

3
Help people
move on ormove up to newroles inside oroutside theorganization

BRIDGE

4

HUMAN
STRENGTHS
are the soft skills – including
communication, collaboration,
relationship-building, creativity,
empathy and a desire to learn –that will augment technologicalcapabilities and reduce the risk ofreplacement by automation.
1

ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey Q3, 2018

4 | 2018 Talent Shortage Survey

GLOBAL TALENT SHORTAGES REACH 12-YEAR HIGH
As the global economy has
steadily strengthened overthe past decade, employers
are more optimisticand hiring demand isstronger.2 Combined withchanging skills needs,
talent shortages have been
pushed to their highest
levels since our survey
began in 2006.

40%

2006

45%

41%

2007

31%

30%

31%

2008

2009

2010

34%

34%

35%

36%

2011

2012

2013

2014

38%

2015

40%

2016

2018

In 2018, employers in Japan (89%), Romania (81%) and Taiwan (78%) report the most difficulty filling positions, while those in theUK (19%), Ireland (18%) and China (13%) report the least difficulty. In Japan, the lack of labor supply, aging demographics andimmigration restrictions continue to fuel the problem, while in Romania and Taiwan it reflects the upward trajectory of nearshoringand offshoring over recent years. The result is that employers are left with unfilled roles, threatening growth and operational efficiency.

TALENT SHORTAGES ARE GROWING AROUND THE WORLD

GlobalAverage
45%

Countries and Territories Facing Difficulty Hiring
Least Difficulty
China
IrelandUK
Netherlands
Spain
NorwayFranceSouth Africa# Switzerland

13%
18%
19%
24%
24%
25%
29%
32%
33%

Below Average Difficulty
Australia$ Brazil
Belgium
Costa Rica
PanamaCzech Republic
Italy
GuatemalaSlovenia
Canada$ Colombia
SwedenPeru
New Zealand

34%
34%
35%
35%
35%
36%
37%
38%
40%
41%
42%
42%
43%
44%

#Greatest INCREASE since 2016
2

Above Average Difficulty
Finland# Austria
USA# Portugal$ Israel# Mexico
Germany$ Hungary
Poland

45%
46%
46%
46%
49%
50%
51%
51%
51%

Most Difficulty$ Argentina# Slovakia

India
Singapore
GreeceTurkeyBulgaria
Hong Kong
TaiwanRomania
Japan

52%
54%
56%
56%
61%
66%
68%
76%
78%
81%
89%

$ Greatest DECREASE since 2016

ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey Q3, 2018
Solving the Talent Shortage: Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge | 5

TOP 10 MOST IN DEMAND SKILLS IN THE WORLD
While artificial intelligence is fast-expanding what can be automated, technology is redefining rather than replacing indemand roles. Skilled trades – electricians, welders, mechanics and more – as well as sales representatives, engineers,
drivers and technicians have ranked among the top five hardest roles to fill for the past ten years.

One in four employers says filling skilled
trades roles is harder this year than last
Demand for drivers and customer service remains strong fueled by the rise of consumerism — increasing online retail,logistics and last-mile delivery. Yet these roles are different to how they looked a decade ago and continue to change,
requiring new skills and training.

1 SKILLED TRADES
electricians, welders, mechanics

3 ENGINEERS
chemical, electrical, civil, mechanical

5 TECHNICIANS
quality controllers, technical staff

7 ACCOUNTING & FINANCE
certified accountants, auditors,
financial analysts

9 OFFICE SUPPORT
administrative assistants, PAs,
receptionists

2 SALES REPRESENTATIVES
B2B, B2C, contact center

4 DRIVERS
truck, delivery, construction,
mass transit

6 IT
cybersecurity experts, network
administrators, technical support

8 PROFESSIONALS
project managers, lawyers, researchers

10 MANUFACTURING
production and machine operators

Most of the top ten in-demand roles today require post-secondary training and not always a full university degree. Midskilled roles like these and others represent 40% of all jobs across the OECD3 and demand for them is growing.
In the digital age, employment will not always require a college degree, but will rely heavily on continual skills development
as even the most traditional roles are augmented with new technology.
3

Employment Outlook, OECD, 20176 | 2018 Talent Shortage Survey

67%

BIGGER COMPANIES, BIGGER CHALLENGES
Large firms have twice as much difficulty filling roles:
67% report hiring challenges and nearly a quartersay they’re having more difficulty now than a year
ago.4 Thirty-five percent say a lack of applicants istheir biggest challenge and that job-seekers expect
higher pay than what they are willing to offer (14%)
compared with micro-employers (9%).

56%
45%
32%
M
I
C
R
O

<10

S
M
A
L
L

10-49

M
E
D
I
U
M

50-249

L
A
R
G
E

250+

# of employees

Difficulty Filling Roles by Company Size

WHY EMPLOYERS CAN’T FIND THE TALENT THEY NEED
Nearly one-third of employers say the main reason they can’t fill roles is a lack of applicants. Another
20% say candidates lack the necessary experience. As companies digitalize, automate and transform, finding
candidates with the right blend of technical skills and human strengths is more important than ever – yet 27% of
employers say applicants lack either the hard skills or the human strengths they need. Globally, morethan half (56%) of employers say communication skills, written and verbal, are their most valued human strengths
followed by collaboration and problem-solving.5
The focus on customer service and last mile delivery across virtually every industry means having the right skills mix
is key. Sales representatives need to be strong on product knowledge, influencing and relationship management aswell as the need to use digital inventory and analytics tools, while IT functions need technical capabilities alongsidepeople management and strong communication skills.

Lack of Applicants, Experience and Skills are Top Drivers of Talent Shortages
29% Lack of applicants
20% Lack of experience
19% Applicants lack required hard skills
12%8%

Applicants expect higher pay than offered

8%
19%

Applicants lack required human strengths

4% An issue specific to my organization
2% Applicants expect better benefits than offered
6% Other / Don’t know

27% of employers say applicants lackeither the hard skills or human strengths
they needed to fulfill their roles

4
5

Survey last conducted in 2016.
Skills Revolution 2.0: Robots Need Not Apply, ManpowerGroup, 2018.
Solving the Talent Shortage: Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge | 7

THE TALENT SHORTAGE CONUNDRUM:
WHAT EMPLOYERS ARE DOING TODAY
In the Skills Revolution when new roles emerge as fast as others become obsolete, employers realize that what you
are likely to learn is becoming more important than what you already know. Companies are beginning to tackle talent
shortages by upskilling their own workforce: over half are investing in learning platforms and development
tools to build their talent pipeline, up from just 20% in 2014.

Strategies Employers Are Using to Overcome Talent Shortages
2018

2016

54% Provide additional
53%

training and development

36% Adjust education or experience requirements (N/A 2016)

33% Recruit from outside traditional talent pool36%
32% Offer additional perks and benefits
27%
30% Explore alternative work models
28%(i.e. contract, freelance or temporary work)

29% Offer higher salary packages
26%
23% Offer flexible or remote working
19%
16%
19%

Outsource the work
(i.e. other company or country)

11% Not pursuing any strategies9%

8 | 2018 Talent Shortage Survey

36% of employers areadjusting education andexperience required to fill roles

Organizations are realizing too that the
combination of soft and hard skills is thebest blend. Sixty-four percent of employers
are upskilling people in hard skills throughtechnical certifications, apprenticeships andprogramming courses and 56% in soft
skills including customer service, sales
and communications.
Companies are also trying to reach newtalent pools and attract more people
on the margins into the workforce.
Thirty-three percent are looking at different
demographics, age ranges or geographies,
using social and traditional media to meetpotential employees where they are, or
tapping boomerang retirees or returning
parents and part-timers. More than onethird (36%) are being more flexible about theeducation or experience requirements forthe role.
Thirty-two percent are improving benefits– e.g. increasing vacation and providing
new joiner and well-being incentives – asa powerful attraction tool and to boost
employer brand. When perks don’t work
money talks: this year 29% of employers
are considering increasing salaries, up 3%
year-over-year.

Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
Chief Talent Scientist
ManpowerGroup

Even if we don’t know what future jobs will look like, we cansafely assume that people with the desire and ability to learn,
who are smarter, have more people skills and are more hardworking, will be better able to perform those jobs.
No matter what your qualifications are, whether you’re anengineer, salesperson or marketer, if you don’t have a foundationof soft skills you will fail. And you need the right soft skills,
because there are so many. The best formula is to focus on theuniversal qualities of learnability: ability, likability and drive.
Companies that manage to create that culture of curiosity andnurture their workforce’s “hungry mind” can be expected tooutperform their less curious rivals in the future.
Then there is the “how” we measure these skills, and gut
instinct – “knowing talent when I see it” – is not one. From
psychometric tests, 360s and interviews, to new generation tools
like big data scraping, social network analysis and gamification,
we need to shift from biased intuition and be better at tapping
AI and facts. We need to let the data speak.
We are living in exciting times. It has never been easier to infer

Outsourcing to another company or country
is a consideration for 16% of employers thatcannot find the talent they need, down 3%
year on year. Working with partners thatspecialize in fast-changing tech roles thatare often project-based – cloud-computing,
Java+, DevOpps or cybersecurity – can be
more efficient than sourcing and maintaining
capabilities in-house.

people’s talents. Of course, this also means that if you want tobeat your competitors, you have to be even more discerning whenit comes to spotting people’s potential before others can see it.
Companies perform better when they understand their people
and people perform better when they are understood.

Employers are more active than ever inapplying a mix of workforce strategies
to address talent shortages.

Solving the Talent Shortage: Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge | 9

BUILD, BUY, BORROW AND BRIDGE:
OVERCOMING TALENT SHORTAGES IN THE FUTURE
To win in the digital age an effective talent strategy should have four parts: build, buy, borrow and bridge.
Build your talent pipeline, buy skills where necessary, borrow from external talent sources and bridge
people with adjacent skills from one role to another to complement existing skills.

1

BUILD
Better people analytics, psychometricassessment, predictive performance and AI mean
employers can map and upskill their existing andpotential workforce like never before. Employers
must emphasize that continuous learning is a twoway deal: essential for individuals to make better
career decisions and stay employable, and criticalfor companies to develop the talent they need.
Identifying future potential, driving a cultureof learnability through the organization andproviding accelerated training programs willbe critical to success in the digital age.

1

BUILD
Invest in learning anddevelopment to growyour talent pipeline

2

BUY

2

BUY
In a tight labor market, employers must work hard to attract workers by showcasing a strong
employee value proposition, clear purpose and attractive culture. Otherwise they will need to
be prepared to pay a premium with beneﬁts, wages or other perks. An environment of low
unemployment and talent shortages can drive up wages and attrition. Employers need tounderstand that candidates are consumers too; in order to attract and engage thebest and brightest, HR needs to be a master marketer.

10 | 2018 Talent Shortage Survey

Go to external market to findthe best talent that cannot
be built in-house in thetimeframe required

3

BORROW

3

BORROW
Cultivate communities oftalent outside the organization,
including part-time, freelance,
contract and temporary
workers to complement
existing skills

4
BRIDGEHR has traditionally been focused on permanent employees inside
the company, yet when you need to complement existing skills, fillgaps for short term projects, or quickly find expertise you do not
have, it’s time to borrow talent including contractors or temporary
workers. More and more skilled workers are choosing to work thisway. 87% of all workers are open to NextGen work – part-time,
contingent, contract, freelance or temporary.6 Organizations
must learn to cultivate communities of workers insideand outside of the company. They need to explore total talentmanagement solutions, be systems thinkers and better marketers,
and tap talent in whatever form it’s available.

4

BRIDGE

Help people move on
and move up to newroles inside or outside
the organization

Transformation, digitization and automation has
created a Skills Revolution where new skills
emerge as fast as others become obsolete.
Leaders have a critical job to optimize theskills they have and find alternative pathways
so those whose skills no longer fit can bridge
to changing or emerging roles.
Where it is not possible to place people in newroles inside the organization employers need totreat people with respect and dignity and help
them to transition smoothly, applying their skills
to new roles beyond the company.

6#GigResponsibly: The Rise of NextGen Work, ManpowerGroup, 2017.

A new talent landscape is emerging to meet the demands of the Skills Revolution. Faced with a high-change
environment driven by technology, companies must create a culture of learning and put people first by developing
a workforce strategy incorporating build, buy, borrow and bridge. This is how we will solve talent shortages andenable individuals and organizations to reach their potential in the digital age.
Solving the Talent Shortage: Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge | 11

ABOUT MANPOWERGROUP
ManpowerGroup® (NYSE: MAN), the leading global workforce solutions company, helps organizationstransform in a fast-changing world of work by sourcing, assessing, developing and managing the talent thatenables them to win. We develop innovative solutions for hundreds of thousands of organizations every year,
providing them with skilled talent while finding meaningful, sustainable employment for millions of people
across a wide range of industries and skills. Our expert family of brands – Manpower®, Experis®,Right Management® and ManpowerGroup® Solutions – creates substantially more value for candidates andclients across 80 countries and territories and has done so for 70 years. In 2018, ManpowerGroup wasnamed one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the ninth year and one of Fortune’s Most Admired
Companies for the sixteenth year, confirming our position as the most trusted and admired brand in theindustry. See how ManpowerGroup is powering the future of work: www.manpowergroup.com

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ABOUT THE RESEARCH
ManpowerGroup commissioned Infocorp to carry out quantitative research in surveying 39,195 employers
across six industry sectors in 43 countries and territories: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil,
Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UK and USA. Data analysis was conducted by Reputation Leaders.

© 2018 ManpowerGroup. All Rights Reserved.