EU jobs crisis, employers claim applicants don’t have the right skills

advertisement

As various studies show, skills shortages are an increasingly serious problem for employers across Europe. According to Eurostat, in 2023, 54% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EU reported that difficulty finding employees with the right skills was one of their most serious problems.

ManpowerGroup, a global workforce solutions company, also found that three out of four employers in 21 European countries are unable to find the skills they need. This was 42% in 2018, which corresponds to an increase of 33 percentage points, or 79%, over the past five years.

The study, published in October 2023, showed that talent shortages are a significant global challenge. “The numbers in our annual Talent Shortage Survey have increased dramatically as demand for skilled workers becomes increasingly acute,” Mara Stephan, Vice President of Global Insights at ManpowerGroup, told Euronews Business. told.

The shortage also included European countries. On average across 21 European countries, 75% of their employers report difficulty in performing their jobs, ranging from 59% in Finland to 82% in Germany and Greece.

“Europe’s unemployment rate is falling, meaning there are not enough skilled workers to fill existing or new jobs. Compounding this is Europe’s aging population, which Declining global birth rates are further contributing to the skills and talent gap we see today,” she stressed.

“This partly explains why Germany’s talent shortage is worse than Finland’s. In 2023, Germany’s unemployment rate was 3.0%, while Finland’s unemployment rate was 7.0%; As a result, there is less talent available to find skilled workers,” Mara Stefan added.

In 2018, the average for these countries was just 42%, varying from 18% in Ireland to 81% in Romania. With the exception of Romania, the proportion of employers who could not find the skills they needed increased significantly between 2018 and 2023.

Significant spikes in Ireland, UK, Spain and France

In Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain and France, the increase exceeded 50 percentage points. For example, in Ireland it went from 18% to 81%, and in the UK it went from 19% to 80%.

This increase was also higher than the European average in the Netherlands (47 points), Norway (44 points), Switzerland (40 points), Belgium (39 points) and Italy (38 points).

European employers: Talent shortage is a serious problem

The Eurobarometer survey, conducted in late 2023, will provide comprehensive insight into talent shortages. Around 54% of small and medium-sized enterprises in the EU cite difficulty finding employees with the right skills as one of their top three most serious problems.

They ranged from 28% in Türkiye to 68% in Belgium. This figure is over 50% in 20 out of 34 countries, demonstrating how common and serious a skills shortage is.

This was identified as the most serious issue for businesses, followed by regulatory hurdles or administrative burdens (34%).

Most needed technicians

Technician roles exist in one-third of small and medium-sized businesses. However, there is generally a lack of technically trained staff, such as lab workers and mechanics. Almost half (42%) of European SMEs reported facing a shortage of technicians. This is by far the role with the highest number of skills shortages.

For small businesses with customer care professionals, approximately 23% of respondents said they lacked skills for the position. These roles include sales professionals, client advisors, receptionists, and more.

Main reasons for skills shortage

According to the Eurobarometer survey, when asked about the main reasons for skills shortages, on average 56% of employers in the EU said they had few or no applicants.

This was the main factor, ranging from 18% in Sweden to 73% in Belgium. All Nordic countries reported that the figures identifying the shortage of applicants were lower than the EU average, while Norway and Denmark were closer to the average.

The EU’s “big four” countries – Spain, France and Germany – had values ​​slightly higher than the EU average.

The main reason given by employers was that applicants did not have the right qualifications, skills and experience, followed by a shortage of applicants at 54%. In the EU, this ranges from 41% in France to 70% in Estonia, showing how widespread the skills shortage problem is.

advertisement

The UK scored lower than the EU average on both indicators.

Why are talent shortages and skills shortages becoming more serious?Interrelated issues

The European Commission underlined that labor and skills shortages have been increasing in all Member States for nearly a decade. The main cause of this shortage is

• Demographic changes
• Demand for new skills due to technological development
• Issues related to working conditions

“Overall, the labor market in 2023 will be tight, meaning many people will face difficulty finding people with the soft and technical skills they need. Investing in reskilling and a focus on preparing people for tomorrow’s jobs has become, and will continue to be, increasingly important and should be a top priority for all business leaders. “We should,” explained ManpowerGroup’s Mara Stephan.

The EU’s working age population fell from 269 million in 2012 to 264 million in 2021. A further 35 million jobs are expected to be lost by 2050, according to Brussels-based BusinessEurope’s Labor and Skills Shortage Analysis report, which highlights the following challenges: are linked to each other.

The report found that inadequate orientation of education and training curricula to labor market needs is a further factor contributing to the lack of suitable skilled workers.

advertisement

The methodology for the talent shortage survey changed in 2022, moving from a phone-based approach to an online approach. Although changes in methodology can affect results, “the largest increase from 45% to 69% occurred before this methodology change,” Stefan added.