Recent employment surveys show that more than one-third of the world market is experiencing the shortage of skills. With the problem most prevalent in Asia, South America and parts of Europe, the most reasons employers gave was the lack of applicants, lack of experience and lack of technical expertise.
Even with many graduates flocking the market, there remains a prevalent problem where people prefer certain skills over others. Technological advancements and rapid globalization, for instance, have led to development of computer oriented jobs, which attract most of the Millennial who then flood in the sector, leaving the other areas like the manufacturing and industrial sectors without any talent.
Although the problem of shortage of skills is widespread, it varies across countries. Below, we look at three of the worst-hit countries.
Japan
The country is experiencing low productivity due to the skills shortage attributed to her aging and shrinking population. With Asia recording the highest instances of technology advancements, most sectors experiencing the shortage in Japan include labor sectors like hotels, restaurants and elderly care. Perhaps the disturbing thing about the problem is the same industries with fewer opportunities top the list of the areas with the lowest productivity. It’s critical to note that the government aggravates the elderly care shortage by its reluctance to increase compensation. According to some analysts in Japan, the labor market seems distorted. The labor shortage in Japan is so sad that there are plans to import skilled labor from other countries to supplement Japan’s market economy.
Brazil
The economy of this vast country with the highest number of unemployed youths globally has continued to take hits. Skills shortage in Brazil is most felt in the high growth industries with many employers finding it difficult to employ the right staff. With an estimated less than forty thousand trained engineering graduates and less than sixty thousand industrial and construction graduates, the country has an acute shortage, especially due to its extensive nature, which leaves them with no other option but to import foreign skills.
According to research, the areas facing severe shortage include food and drinks, industrial machinery and mineral production. Again, all this talent shortage results from lack of vocational training. Most of the time, employers have no other choice but to employ overqualified personnel hence leading to inflated wages and this, in turn, affects the economy.
Like the rest of the world, the shortage could in some way result from many applicants favoring one sector and overlooking the others, with the most flooded being the industry sector due to its high compensation rates hence leaving the skilled sectors talentless. The shortage has led to increased giving out of work visas to Brazil for foreigners to fill the vacancies.
India
This is yet another big country that is facing a talent shortage in many areas. The country is a hub of flourishing industries like manufacturing, medicine, mechanical engineering and many other sectors. The diverse nature of the Indian economy leads to talent shortage in some sectors. For instance, due to the large pool of opportunities in the Indian market, many privately owned foreign companies continue to flock India to set up businesses. These companies give high wages, and as a result, they poach skilled labor, leaving the Indian companies grappling with the acute shortage of talent.
It is, however, important to note that the talent shortage of skilled labor in India majorly results from a lack of quality education and lack of practical knowledge hence the lack of needed qualifications. This has led to flooding of unskilled labor hence deflation of wages in the unskilled labor sector.
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