Skilled Workers Remain Scarce: Is Compensation a Factor?

New survey data suggest inadequate pay may be driving some skilled-worker shortages.

Jun. 18, 2012 Jill Jusko | IndustryWeek

Bosch Rexroth is expanding its Fountain Inn, S.C., manufacturing facility and in mid-June held job fairs several states away -- in San Antonio and Austin, Texas -- in search of machinists and maintenance technicians to fill available positions. With the expansion, the company claims its new facility, an $80 million investment, will become the largest hydraulics manufacturing facility in North America.

The company is not the only manufacturer seeking such skills of course. The search seemingly is epidemic, as newly released survey data confirm. ManpowerGroup's seventh annual talent-shortage survey show skilled trades are the most difficult U.S. job to fill in 2012, a position it also held in 2011. Machinists and machine operators rose a notch in difficulty, moving from the 10th most-difficult position to fill to the ninth most difficult.

The list of the hardest U.S. jobs to fill in 2012, from most-difficult to least, is:
1. skilled trades
2. engineers
3. IT staff
4. sales representatives
5. accounting and finance staff
6. drivers
7. mechanics
8. nurses
9. machinists and machine operators
10. teachers

Perhaps more interesting data revealed by the survey, however, are the reasons cited by U.S. respondents for their difficulty filling certain position. Fully 55% cited a lack of available talent or no applicants, which is unlikely to come as a complete surprise to any manufacturer. However, more than half of respondents, indeed 54% of then, said they were having difficulty filling jobs because potential employees were looking for more pay than was offered. Only 13% of global respondents cited pay as an issue.

Among U.S. respondents the third-leading reason for difficulty filling jobs was lack of experience, cited by 44%.

Overall, 49% of U.S. employers are having difficulty filling jobs, compared with 34% of employers worldwide.

Training the Manufacturing Workforce: Don't Go It Alone

Discuss this Article 2

RPLATT

on Jul 20, 2012

The most interesting thing about this set of statistics is that many companies have little, or very little in the way of employee development and training that could help new or would be excellent employees become the type of employee that they really want and need for the job's that need filling.

By example it has been stated that Engineering schools in general have an attrition rate of somewhere around 65% from those who state engineering school as freshman and those that actually graduate here in the US. OK we can bemoan and blame the education system, or we can blame the population at large for being stupid, but neither answers the need.

My recommendation to deal with this is simply why not hire for intelligence and good work ethic, and then train up these employees inside of companies, or in partnership w/ local community colleges and universities to fill the needs.

IMPO this is what would address the issues, instead of reporting that we can't find the workers that we need. The truth is that there are many fine would be employees out there looking for work, but can't find it because they don't have the narrow skill description. If we gave them an opportunity to learn what we really needed them to learn, then we wouldn't have this issue. The Germans do it, why can't we?

IW Reader

on Jul 23, 2012

Companies themselves are largely responsible for creating the lack of available talent and no applicants situation. For years, many employers have bought into and promulgated the Kool-Aid pretense that they must outsource offshore in order to gain access to necessary skills. At the same time, by unceremoniously ditching their own workers, the companies obliterated employees’ senses of loyalty or career development. These companies repeatedly sent messages that they have no jobs for domestic workers to fill and that consequently there is no reason for workers to (further) develop the skills those jobs require.

Compensation is not the issue, but it’s an easy thing for companies that don’t have a clue to blame. These companies are like the person who has murdered his parents and seeks sympathy as an orphan.