How to Find and Hire Skilled Labor Workers in Today’s Market

Posted on 8th May 2024

In most countries for the first time, a job applicant number is greater than the number of jobs and this situation is most pronounced in firms that seek blue-collar workers. In the manufacturing sector, where 77 percent of businesses want to expand hiring or increase salary and benefits, labor shortages are expected to be paramount.

Such patterns are noticeable in transportation and logistics where the orders for big vehicles have risen to their greatest in thirty years but there are not adequate drivers to support them.

Currently, the trucking industry faces a shortage of 63 thousand job applicants, and it is predicted that the number of such vacancies will increase by almost three times in the upcoming years.

In 2013, the same markets experienced an unemployment rate ranging from 8 to 10 percent, so this gave employers a broad field of employees to choose from. We have gathered some information in this article to show you what to look for when you are hiring skilled labor workers:

What Is Labor Shortage?

The overall outcome of this situation is that workers who supply labor below the demand for labor at the existing pay rates are in a labor shortage. This can be seen as a way of saying that there are more open positions and unemployed workers than employees are accepting the available pay.

It can be said that labor shortage is not an old problem, and its causes can be various. Naturally, this time the cause of the apparent labor scarcity is obvious, the pandemic and virus. Now, businesses, to a certain extent, are still trying to return to their performance before the pandemic.

For example, if you are looking for Perth labour hire of manufacturer workers, office support, warehouse, and logistics, recruiting professionals can take care of the whole procedure so that companies can get the job done without any delays. The time business should be prospering or expanding is the time of their having to make cuts.

Reasons For Skilled Labor Workers Shortage

Workforce

Two factors determine the availability of talent: the working-age population and the activity rates as the indicator of labor participation. Nevertheless, the opinions of people regarding work change with the location.

Some nations like Japan, Brazil, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, and Argentina, exhibit stable rates across times which is an indicator that their citizens of working age have a sturdy working behavior.

However, during the last decade, employment rates have dropped in France, Canada, and Spain because of the diminishing desire of people to join the labor market. This problem is especially critical within the European Union where the working-age population is falling and the process of finding skilled workers is getting harder and harder. 

Unemployment Rates

Despite the latest drop in employment, the unemployment rates are low in the global arena. To many OECD members, they are almost at historical minimums and in some cases, they are at their lowest levels in the last 20 years.

Finding enough talent in Germany, the UK, the US, Japan or Canada is still a difficult task for any position. In contrast, Italy and Spain have many unemployed people.

The US, Japan, Australia, Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands are some of the countries with nearly full employment levels. Recently in these countries, there has been a lack of candidates to fill the job positions.

Job Vacancy Rates

In 2023, the job vacancy rate for both specific and regular abilities has witnessed a slight improvement, but it still is hard to fill the vacancies. There has been a rise in vacancy rates all over the last 10 years, but much more after the pandemic.

Because of the lack of supply as well as the high demand for technical as well as emerging skills including artificial intelligence, getting a team is even more difficult.

At this moment, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany are showing over 4 percent of vacancy rates. It is more than double that in the US at 7 percent, which US companies encounter as a considerable issue.

In all these markets, the inability to be effective in operations, generate revenue, and innovate has been affected heavily by the vacancy rates that are still high. The issue of job shortage has truly become a remarkable challenge in many countries over the last two years.

Aging Population

Besides, the fact that the working-age population is declining plays its part both in the shortage of workers and labor difficulties. The global labor markets have been concerned for a couple of years that they will not be able to fill the gap of highly skilled workers at the same level as they retire, particularly drawing from their countries.

For example, daily, about 10,000 people in the US, and from this time on, it is predicted to remain stable until at least 2029, when they reach the retirement age of 65. By the next decades, we can expect only to see the average age of the world's population increase.

For the researchers, it is forecasted that in 2030, someone will become 60 plus in 6 out of 10 people all over the world, while in 2050 it will happen in at least 12 out of 10 global population.

By the time 2030 comes, the number of workers over 60 years old will be greater compared to those under 50, in turn, the birth rate in emerging and rich countries will continue to decline.

Tech Gap

The latest research has revealed that companies can't yet train and prepare teams with the skills needed in the digital economy because of the shortages of skilled labor.

While the issue of retirement-related skills and experience loss definitely contributes to the issue, the adaptation of modern technologies, the development of artificial intelligence, and the usage of automation are the leading factors of the skills deficiency.

In addition to the fact that technology boosts productivity and facilitates various corporate procedures, it is a matter of skill to apply correctly. The occupations in the areas of science, technology, business, economics, and law are primarily affected. 

How To Hire Skilled Labor Workers

The companies need to figure out where they can get the needed workers to staff their business. Nowadays employers work hard to attract top professionals, but still, a lot of people don't accept proposed employment offers from companies. Let's see some things that need to be followed to avoid that:

Pay Good

The easiest way to attract the best workers during a labor shortage is to pay generously. Minimum wage days are past. Employees today are more knowledgeable than they ever have been and they know their worth and will not settle for anything less than fair compensation.

Of course, is it logical that organizations would not want to simply increase salary? With the depressed profit margins due to the pandemic, the business probably doesn't feel like increasing wages is the last thing they need to do.

However, considering the significance of the workers to a company's success, give wage increases a thought as a long-term investment. 

Benefits

The necessities and aspirations of workers have been expanding for quite a while now, long before the shortage of workers happened. Earlier on, employees would simply work, pick up their salary, and go about their lives.

Whether daily or weekly, on one hand, the labor market becomes more competitive because the number of workers in it is constantly growing. It is suggested that you should conduct labor market research to find out the facets they would be looking for in candidates and thereafter try your best to supply them.

Overall speaking, any treatment is more crucial than the others for hourly or shift employees. No doubt this type of benefit will contain dental, vision, and medical insurance. Besides them, factor in your travel deals, fitness packages, and referral financings too.

Act Quickly

According to studies, the number of job seekers, especially people in less affluent brackets are trekking destinations for jobs at an unprecedented pace. For companies that operate slowly with hiring, a maximum of 1 percent of all available workers is their eventual choice while 96 percent of labor is already employed.

Employees are highly susceptible to quitting during their first 30 days of orientation after they are hired. The employer has the highest retention rate when it comes to keeping the workers if they can make a good first impression of the company from when they first contact the organization until they reach the 90-day milestone of being employees.

Skilled Labor Worker FAQs

1. What is Labor shortage?

Workers who supply labor below the demand for labor at the existing pay rates are in a labor shortage. This can be seen as a way of saying that there are more open positions and unemployed workers than employees are accepting the available pay. 

2. What are the reasons for the labor shortage? 

Reasons for labor shortage are workforce, unemployment rates, job vacancy rates, aging population, aging population, and tech gap. 

3. How the aging population affects the labor shortage?

The global labor markets have been concerned for a couple of years that they will not be able to fill the gap of highly skilled workers at the same level as they retire, particularly drawing from their countries. Daily, about 10,000 people in the US, and from this time on, it is predicted to remain stable until at least 2029, when they reach the retirement age of 65. 

4. How to hire?

The companies need to figure out where they can get the needed workers to staff their business. The easiest way to attract the best workers during a labor shortage is to pay them well.

It is suggested also that you should conduct labor market research to find out the facets they would be looking for in candidates and thereafter try your best to supply them.

The employer has the highest retention rate when it comes to keeping the workers if they can make a good first impression of the company from when they first contact the organization until they reach the 90-day milestone of being employees.