More than one-third of employers around the world are experiencing difficulty filling job positions, global employment consultancy Manpower reported on Monday.
Manpower surveyed 41,700 hiring managers across 42 countries in its annual "talent shortage" report in the first three months of 2015. It found that 38 percent of managers could not find the talent they needed—the highest proportion since the 2007 two percent higher than last year.
It found the hardest jobs to fill were sales representatives and skilled trade workers such as chefs, mechanics and electricians.
Employers in Japan reported the greatest difficulty in filling vacancies, with 83 percent saying there were finding it challenging. Other countries suffering high levels of talent shortages were located all over the world and included Peru , Hong Kong, Brazil and Romania.
Notably, 59 percent of Greek employers said they found it hard to fill positions, despite Greece's economic straits and high levels of unemployment.
Employers in the United Kingdom and Ireland experience the least difficulty in filing vacancies, with only 14 percent and 11 percent respectively in each country struggling.
The most common reason employers gave for experiencing difficulty was a lack of applicants (named by 35 percent of those surveyed), followed by applicants' lack of technical competence (cited by 34 percent). Another reason was a lack of experience, affecting 22 percent of employers.
Hardest jobs to fill globally in 2015: Manpower
- Skilled Trades
- Sales Representatives
- Engineers
- Technicians
- Drivers
- Management / Executives
- Accounting & Finance Staff
- Office Support Staff
- IT Staff
- Production / Machine Operators