South Africa’s got talent

New research conducted by recruitment firm ManpowerGroup finds that South Africa is among the countries, globally, who have the least difficulty in sourcing the required talent for positions.
ManpowerGroup surveyed over 38,618 employers across 42 countries and territories for its annual Talent Shortage Survey finding that one in three respondents reported difficulty filling positions as a result of a lack of suitable candidates.
The 35% who report shortages represents the highest proportion since 2007, just prior to the global recession. However, South Africa, at 6% is only behind Spain and Ireland (both at 3%) in terms of the percentage of respondents who have had difficulty in filling jobs.
In South Africa, the percentage of people reporting difficulty filling jobs, is down from 10% in 2012, 14% in 2011, and 16% in 2010.
ManPower Group stressed that the degree of difficulty employers report does not always correspond to a country’s jobless rates, with South Africa’s official jobless rate exceeding 25% currently.
Employers in the Americas report the most difficulty filling technician posts, while the hardest-to-fill vacancies in Asia Pacific are for sales representatives. EMEA employers report greatest difficulty sourcing skilled trades talent.
According to the 2013 survey results—and for the second consecutive year—the most acute talent shortages are reported in Japan (85%) and Brazil (68%).
The problem is widespread in Asia Pacific, with more than half the employers surveyed in India (61%), Hong Kong (57%) and New Zealand (51%) saying that talent shortages prevent them from hiring people with needed skills.
Meanwhile, employers in many EMEA countries report skills gaps are having less impact on their ability to source suitable candidates.
“This isn’t particularly surprising given the high unemployment rates reported throughout much of the region,” the group said.
However, the inability to source the right recruits remains an issue for employers in some EMEA countries. A shortage of candidates with the right technical competencies and a general lack of applicants are both key causes of hard-to-fill vacancies in EMEA – and both have become more prevalent over time, ManPower Group said.
Half of the EMEA employers who currently face talent shortages say this is having a medium or high impact on ability to meet client needs.
And the effect of talent shortages on client-facing activity is most pronounced in South Africa (72%) and Romania (69%), where the majority of employers report a medium or high impact.