With a slow demand for products and services as well as ongoing talent mismatches, the labor market is still facing slow job growth, reveals ManpowerGroup's recent survey.
"Finding people with the right skills is extremely challenging, and employers are unwilling to compromise while demand remains sluggish," says Jeffrey A. Joerres, chairman and CEO of ManpowerGroup. "Clearly, when you have 14 million people out of work and vying for the same positions posted online, companies are swimming in candidate resumes short on the right skills and other qualifiers. As soon as companies sense danger on the economic horizon, they instantly hit the pause button on hiring."
However, after poor job growth in May and June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the overall July unemployment rate slightly dipped to 9.1 percent, and 117,000 private sector jobs were created during the month. The number of temporary workers hired in July experienced little change.
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Although unemployment is still high and jobs growth remains stagnant, ManpowerGroup's 2011 Talent Shortage Survey reveals over half of employers are having trouble filling open vacancies, which is the highest reported number in the annual survey's six-year history.
If the labor market continues to stall, there could be longer-term structural changes, ManpowerGroup says. The long-term unemployed, for example, may have outdated skills that do not meet the new needs for employers.
"An employer's ability to expertly align candidates with current and future business needs will give them the ultimate business advantage once the economy steers into a steady growth track," says Jonas Prising, president of the Americas for ManpowerGroup. "Demand holds the keys to business growth and job creation, regardless of industry. Without it, our unemployment rate will remain high, and we will have more underemployed Americans not actively seeking work and increasingly uncertain of how to bolster their skills during critical transition periods. Downtime is not an option for workers or employers."
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