Forbes (05/29/12) Jacquelyn Smith

The seventh annual talent shortage survey of more than 1,300 employers in the first quarter by ManpowerGroup indicates that even as the U.S. unemployment rate remains above 8%, 49% of employers are having a hard time filling vacant positions. The 10 hardest jobs to fill are skilled trades, engineers, information technology, sales representatives, accounting and finance, drivers, mechanics, nurses, machinists and machine operators, and teachers.

Melanie Holmes, a vice president at ManpowerGroup, attributes the trend to a talent mismatch, noting, “They are looking for people who have multiple skill sets and varied backgrounds, and those individuals are hard to find, especially among individuals who have been out of the job market for an extended period of time.” Among the employers having a difficult time filling jobs, 55% cite a lack of applicants, 54% cite applicants seeking higher pay, and others cite a lack of experienced applicants. Holmes says employers need to “leverage flexible work force models that integrate a dynamic mix of workers; advance contemporary people practices that redefine how talent is hired, rewarded, engaged, and developed; and improve talent pipelines by tapping different resources of talent and re-skilling current employees.”