Insufficient available workers is the number one impediment to growth for the majority of UK businesses.
42% of UK organisations reported optimistic recruitment intentions as they entered Q1, 2024, with a +27% net hiring outlook. However, an acute shortage of skilled workers, high employee demand for hybrid working and workers’ rising compensation expectations will still leave many businesses struggling to secure the talent they urgently need.
As the UK employment outlook becomes more positive and organisations maintain a buoyant hiring mood, demand for skilled workers continues to outstrip supply. The UK’s persistent talent shortages have left 80% of businesses still struggling to secure the talent they require.
This problem is further exacerbated by the extraordinarily high number of new university graduates who are not ready for the world of work – according to McKinsey, 60% of employers say that freshly minted graduates leave college unprepared for a commercial career, and 40% state that the biggest reason they cannot fill entry-level vacancies isn’t a lack of people, it’s a lack of adequate skills.
A key driver of the current talent shortage – and the reason why the talent squeeze is here to stay – is that the world of work has changed. Employee expectations, their need for greater fulfilment at work, and a desire to align work with their personal values (an important reason why company Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is critical to worker attraction and retention), have altered the playing field irreversibly. In an age when there is more work than workers, those who choose to work can be highly selective as to where and when they deploy their labour.
Many jobs rely on at least a minimum of proficiency with technology, yet according to a report using data from PwC and Lloyds Banking Group, more than a third of the UK’s ‘digitally literate’ workforce were unable to even complete at least one of the Lloyds’ Essential Digital Skills for Work. This disturbing statistic is further supported by global research indicating that 39% of employees say they’re not getting sufficient technology training from their employers to keep their digital skills up to date.
39% of employees said they're concerned about not getting sufficient technology training from their employees to help keep skills up to date.
