Careerbuilder recently released telling findings about employers challenged by skills gaps in seeking to fill vacant positions. But what’s exactly behind the gap and how are job seekers meeting the challenge?
Check out the top four challenges employers cited to be at the core of the problem:
- Education (37%): The educated labor supply in the U.S. is not keeping up with demand, CareerBuilder notes. For example, in 2012, around 1,600 people graduated with petroleum engineering degrees. The U.S. produces around 2,600 job openings in this area every year.
- Expectations Around Wages (37%): When it comes to hard-to-fill positions, 30% have reported they have increased wages and 42% said they are considering it. However, on the flip side of that, employers may not always be able or willing to pay what their market dictates for a particular position. Thirty-five percent of employers believe they can pay people less because of the high unemployment rate.
- Job Requirements Above Entry Requirements: (35%): The roles within organizations are becoming more complex. Nearly one-third of employers now hire college graduates for positions that were previously held by high-school graduates.
- New/Shifting Technologies (32%): Technology is changing so rapidly, it can be difficult to keep pace in an academic setting. According to research noted in The Talent Equation, CareerBuilder notes, it is estimated that technology skills depreciate at about the same rate as physical assets.5