Although the unemployment rate remains high, 38 percent of employers say they cannot find qualified candidates for open positions, 34 percent say these job vacancies are causing the work quality to fall as employees are overworked, and 23 percent say it has caused revenue losses, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.
Another 33 percent of respondents say vacancies have reduced morale while 17 percent of respondents are experiencing higher turnover within their organizations.
"If we want to see more positive movement in the U.S. market, we have to do a better job of realigning the skills of our labor force with positions that are in high demand," says Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. "Prolonged vacancies can result in lower-quality work, lower sales and morale, and can cause a delay in creating other related positions within the organization. Fortunately, we see more companies taking matters into their own hands and putting programs in place to retrain and transition workers into their industries and fields."
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Respondents say the most difficult areas to find qualified candidates are in engineering at 67 percent, C-level positions at 60 percent, information technology at 60 percent, research and development at 54 percent, and production at 54 percent.
To fill these open positions, half of respondents of all sizes anticipate hiring hire workers who lack the experience and train them while 31 percent of respondents plan to cross-train current employees . Nineteen percent are of respondents are keying in on talent from competitors, and nearly two-thirds intend to stretch incentives, such as offering flexible hours at 25 percent, higher salary at 22 percent and remote work options at 15 percent.
Among the respondents, 41 percent say they offer programs to lessen the skills gap, including on-the-job training, mentoring and sending employees back to school.
The survey also finds that 64 percent of job seekers knowingly apply for positions when they know the lack the necessary skills, and 77 percent say they would be willing to take a job in a different field, and54 percent would be open to relocation.
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