Firms urged to train their way out of crisis
Employers struggling to recruit need to stop searching for the perfect candidate and look to train up those ticking most - but not all - boxes.
All sectors are experiencing a major issue with record low unemployment going head-to-head with record job vacancies.
To make matters worse, it comes on the back of a skills shortage - warned about long before the pandemic arrived on our shores.
But with a shortage of candidates, employers are being urged to invest in those with the best potential, rather than risking being left with unfilled vacancies ahead of a feared recession later this year.
Explains Jo James, chief executive of the Kent Chamber of Commerce: “Everyone, across all sectors, is struggling.
“The pool of candidates has shrunken significantly.
“You’re not going to find a candidate with ticks in all ten boxes, but if they only tick six then train the other four.
“The problem is that with the economy the way it is, many are cutting back
as much as they can on discretionary spend and one which is the first to go is the training budget.
“But it’s now where you need it.
“When you have a recession, the thing to do is not to cut people but to have the right people with the right skills to take you forward.
“That’s what you need and that’s what they need to be
doing now as we know it’s coming.”
Adds Dr Catherine Robinson, an economist at the University of Kent:
“We definitely have a skills shortage and that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic.
“At the very high end of the skills distribution, those people are sought after and companies are having to get really inventive about how they are attracting them.”