According to the 2015 "Talent Shortage Survey," published byManpower Group, 32 percent of U.S. employers report havingdifficulties filling job vacancies due to talent shortages. "Talentshortages are real and are not going away," said Kip Wright, seniorvice president, Manpower North America.

Almost half (48%) of employers in the survey acknowledged thattalent shortages have a medium to high impact on their businesses.Problems they reported include reduced competitiveness, reducedproductivity, increased employee turnover, higher compensationcosts, and reduced employee engagement/morale.

Manpower's report noted that skilled trade workers, drivers,sales representatives, administrative professionals, managementpersonnel, technicians, accounting/finance professionals, andengineers are particularly difficult for businesses to find.

When asked why they were struggling to fill certain jobs,respondents cited a lack of applicants (33%), lack of experienceamong applicants (19%), and lack of technical competencies or hardskills (17%) as the three most common reasons.

These problems, of course, are exacerbated for small businesses,which struggle to complete with larger businesses in terms ofrecruiting programs, wages, benefits packages, career pathopportunities, and other initiatives.

Further increasing the problem for small businesses is that,according to a number of reports, employee loyalty to employers isbecoming a thing of the past. That is, more and more employeesthese days of all ages report being on the lookout for new jobs ona regular basis. And, of course, the biggest exodus is from smallbusinesses, which often hire the unskilled applicants that largerbusinesses initially turn away. The small businesses then investtime and money to train these employees, only to have themsubsequently move on to employment opportunities with largeremployers.

According to a recent survey conducted by Right Management, theglobal career management division of Manpower Group, a stunning 86percent of employees in North America plan to pursue new careeropportunities in 2015, up from just 60 percent in 2009. "Theimproving economy brings abut a renewed job confidence, whichresults in increased interest in career mobility," said BramLowsky, executive vice president and global leader of careermanagement for Right Management.

The shortage of qualified applicants is causing even furtherproblems for small businesses. That is, with the unemployment rateat only 5.3% (July 2015), many of those remaining unemployed areout of work not only because they lack job skills, but because theyalso lack certain "life skills," leaving small businesses forced todecide to hire people who simply are unlikely to make meaningfulcontributions to the workplace, or to simply leave positionsunfilled.

A recent AP article ("Applicants, bosses both blamed as jobs gounfilled"), noted that, "Many potential employees don't followdirections on job postings, are no-shows at interviews, andsometimes accept a job only to say at the last minute that they'regoing to work for someone else." The article continues, "It's asituation that makes small business owners wonder, as they wadethrough piles of resumes, 'Are many job applicants unskilled,unreliable slackers?'"

The article added that, while many complaints by small businessowners about the quality of applicants they are receiving focus onyounger workers, "(H)uman resources consultants say it's an issueacross the age spectrum and pay scale."

In a recent survey of 1,200 local employers by St. LouisCommunity College, 56 percent of business owners cited applicants'poor work ethic as a problem. And, in a survey conducted by SeattleJob Initiative, almost 35 percent of employers said that mostapplicants for entry-level positions were not reliable.

Case in point: According to the AP article, Brian Schutt,co-founder of Homesense Heating and Cooling in Indianapolis, posteda job opening for an administrative position. He receivedapproximately 300 applications. The office manager met with 25 ofthese applicants during the first round of interviews, and Schuttexpected to be able to meet in the second round of interviews withthe dozen who passed the first round. However, only one personshowed up to the interview. "Younger applicants in particular seemto have a different work ethic," said Schutt. "I've gotten a verycynical view of what I've seen of folks under 25 that we've triedto bring on board."

When Scott Breon of Portland, Oregon-based Vacasa, a vacationhome management company, asked applicants for a marketing positionto design a sales flyer showing why there were the best person forthe job, he received three responses. "When he posted the job againwithout the assignment, applications poured in," according to theAP article.

In sum, small businesses are in a significant crunch today whenit comes to qualified talent. Not only are they finding itextremely difficult to locate applicants with minimalqualifications in the first place, but, even if they do find suchpeople, the chances of these people quickly moving on to employmentin larger companies are more likely than not.