Skills Gap Causing Losses in Productivity and Revenue in Top Ten World Economies, According to CareerBuilder Survey

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Mar 20, 2013, 04:00 ET

CHICAGO, March 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The growing deficit of skilled labor needed to fill in-demand jobs is causing a drag on employers across the globe. A significant number of employers in the ten largest world economies said that extended job vacancies have resulted in lower revenue and productivity and the inability to grow their businesses. Employers in China were the most likely to report having open positions they cannot fill and corresponding negative effects on their company performance. Russia houses the largest percentage of employers reporting a revenue shortfall tied to extended job vacancies while the U.S. is among those most likely to report a productivity loss. Japan ranked high among those who said the inability to find skilled talent has impeded expansion of their businesses.

Infographic: http://cb.com/ZVEkDf

The global CareerBuilder survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive^© from November 1 to November 30, 2012, included more than 6,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals in countries with the largest gross domestic product.

"The inability to fill high skill jobs can have an adverse ripple effect, hindering the creation of lower-skilled positions, company performance and economic expansion," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. "Major world economies are feeling the effects of this in technology, healthcare, production and other key areas. The study underlines how critical it is for the government, private sector and educational institutions to work together to prepare and reskill workers for opportunities that can help move the needle on employment and economic growth."

Percentage of companies that have open positions they can't fill
Employers in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) were the most likely to report challenges in recruiting high skill labor with more than half of employers stating they currently have positions for which they can't find qualified candidates.

China – 74 percent
Brazil – 63 percent
Russia – 57 percent
India – 53 percent
Germany – 31 percent
Japan – 29 percent
U.S. – 28 percent
France – 26 percent
U.K – 23 percent
Italy – 18 percent

The BRIC nations are also hiring at a more accelerated rate, containing the highest percentages of employers planning to add full-time, permanent staff in 2013 (see CareerBuilder's Global Job Forecast).

Negative impact of positions that stay open too long
A large percentage of employers in the top ten economies stated their companies have experienced negative implications from extended job vacancies, citing less effective business performance, lower quality work, lower morale and higher employee turnover. Following the BRIC nations, employers in Italy and France were the most likely to report this.

China – 81 percent
Brazil – 74 percent
Russia – 74 percent
India – 69 percent
Italy – 55 percent
France – 47 percent
U.K. – 41 percent
Japan – 40 percent
Germany – 39 percent
U.S. – 38 percent

Of employers who have felt a detrimental impact from extended vacancies, the following reported suffering a loss in productivity and revenue and stagnant business growth.

Loss of Productivity

China – 65 percent
U.S. – 41 percent
Russia – 40 percent
Brazil – 39 percent
U.K. – 33 percent
India – 32 percent
Germany – 31 percent
Italy – 31 percent
Japan – 30 percent
France – 21 percent

Loss of Revenue

Russia – 29 percent
China – 26 percent
Japan – 26 percent
Germany – 24 percent
India – 22 percent
U.S. – 21 percent
Italy – 19 percent
France – 17 percent
U.K. – 16 percent
Brazil – 15 percent

Inability to grow their business

China – 33 percent
Japan – 25 percent
France – 24 percent
U.S. – 22 percent
U.K. – 22 percent
India – 21 percent
Germany – 21 percent
Italy – 21 percent
Russia – 20 percent
Brazil – 19 percent

Hardest to fill positions for skilled labor
Not surprising, technical fields – namely Information Technology and Engineering - dominated the areas where employers said they are having the most difficulty recruiting skilled talent. There were notable challenges in recruiting for high end sales positions in the U.S. and Europe, and recruiting for Research & Development jobs in India, China and Japan. Filling Production jobs is a bigger challenge in Brazil, Russia and Europe.

U.S. – Information Technology, Sales and Engineering
U.K. – Engineering, Information Technology and Customer Service
France – Production, Sales and Customer Service
Germany – Information Technology, Engineering and Sales
Italy – Production, Creative/Design and Sales
Russia – Engineering, Production and Information Technology
India – Research & Development, Information Technology and Marketing
China – Research & Development, Creative/Design and Engineering
Japan – Engineering, Information Technology and Research & Development
Brazil – Information Technology, Production and Customer Service

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S., Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.K. by Harris Interactive^© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 400 to 2,611 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) in each country between November 1 and November 30, 2012 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples ranging from 400 to 2,611, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error between +/- 4.9 and +/-1.92 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract their most important asset - their people. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors, 1 million jobs and 50 million resumes. CareerBuilder works with the world's top employers, providing resources for everything from talent and compensation intelligence to employment branding and recruitment support. More than 10,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder's proprietary job search technology on their career sites. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

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SOURCE CareerBuilder