Skills gaps lead to productivity, revenue losses

Long-term open jobs are leading to lower revenue and productivity among employers in the 10 largest global economies, according to a recent study by CareerBuilder.     While respondents in China are most likely to have open positions they have yet to fill, respondents in Russia have the greatest decline in revenue shortfall, and U.S. respondents most often experience productivity losses. Respondents in Japan are most likely to find that they can’t grow their businesses because of the lack of skilled talent.    “The inability to fill high-skill jobs can have an adverse ripple effect, hindering the creation of lower-skilled positions, company performance and economic expansion,” says Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder. “Major world economies are feeling the effects of this in technology, health care, production and other key areas. The study underlines how critical it is for the government, private sector and educational institutions to work together to prepare and reskill workers for opportunities that can help move the needle on employment and economic growth.”   Of the respondents in Brazil, Russia, India and China, they are most likely face difficulties in recruiting high-skill labor at more than 50 percent. Twenty-eight percent of U.S. respondents report having trouble finding high-skill labor while respondents in Italy come in at the lowest number of 18 percent. The other global respondents with this problem are Germany at 31 percent, Japan at 29 percent, France at 26 percent and the United Kingdom at 23 percent. Still, BRIC respondents are hiring at a faster rate.   Meanwhile, following BRIC respondents, respondents in Italy and France are more likely to see negative impacts of extended job openings at 55 and 47 percent. The negative impacts include less effective business performance, poor-quality work, lower morale and higher employee turnover. While 38 percent of U.S. respondents report having negative impacts because of long-term job openings, 41 percent of respondents in the U.K., 40 percent of respondents in Japan and 39 percent of respondents in Germany also experience this.   When it comes to loss of productivity, respondents in China and the United States are more likely to face this at 65 percent and 41 percent. Respondents in Japan and France are less likely to lose productivity at 30 percent and 21 percent. At 29 percent, respondents in Russia has the most to lose in terms of revenue, followed by respondents in China at 26 percent. The U.K. and Brazil lose the least in revenue at 16 and 15 percent. Twenty-one percent of U.S. respondents report falling revenue. Respondents in China have the hardest time growing their businesses at 33 percent. Next is Japan at 25 percent. Only 20 percent of respondents in Russia and 19 percent of respondents in Brazil say this is a problem.   Overall, the information technology and engineering fields are most difficult to find skilled labor among the global respondents, the study finds.