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

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

Manpower's report noted that skilled trade workers, drivers, sales representatives, administrative professionals, management personnel, technicians, accounting/finance professionals, and engineers 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 experience among applicants (19%), and lack of technical competencies or hard skills (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 of recruiting programs, wages, benefits packages, career path opportunities, and other initiatives.

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

According to a recent survey conducted by Right Management, the global career management division of Manpower Group, a stunning 86 percent of employees in North America plan to pursue new career opportunities in 2015, up from just 60 percent in 2009. "The improving economy brings abut a renewed job confidence, which results in increased interest in career mobility," said Bram Lowsky, executive vice president and global leader of career management for Right Management.

The shortage of qualified applicants is causing even further problems for small businesses. That is, with the unemployment rate at only 5.3% (July 2015), many of those remaining unemployed are out of work not only because they lack job skills, but because they also lack certain "life skills," leaving small businesses forced to decide to hire people who simply are unlikely to make meaningful contributions to the workplace, or to simply leave positions unfilled.

A recent AP article ("Applicants, bosses both blamed as jobs go unfilled"), noted that, "Many potential employees don't follow directions on job postings, are no-shows at interviews, and sometimes accept a job only to say at the last minute that they're going to work for someone else." The article continues, "It's a situation that makes small business owners wonder, as they wade through piles of resumes, 'Are many job applicants unskilled, unreliable slackers?'"

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

In a recent survey of 1,200 local employers by St. Louis Community College, 56 percent of business owners cited applicants' poor work ethic as a problem. And, in a survey conducted by Seattle Job Initiative, almost 35 percent of employers said that most applicants 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, posted a job opening for an administrative position. He received approximately 300 applications. The office manager met with 25 of these applicants during the first round of interviews, and Schutt expected to be able to meet in the second round of interviews with the dozen who passed the first round. However, only one person showed up to the interview. "Younger applicants in particular seem to have a different work ethic," said Schutt. "I've gotten a very cynical view of what I've seen of folks under 25 that we've tried to bring on board."

When Scott Breon of Portland, Oregon-based Vacasa, a vacation home management company, asked applicants for a marketing position to design a sales flyer showing why there were the best person for the job, he received three responses. "When he posted the job again without the assignment, applications poured in," according to the AP article.

In sum, small businesses are in a significant crunch today when it comes to qualified talent. Not only are they finding it extremely difficult to locate applicants with minimal qualifications in the first place, but, even if they do find such people, the chances of these people quickly moving on to employment in larger companies are more likely than not.

Instant Insights /

Small businesses struggle with waning employee loyalty

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