The survey shows that wage inflation was most affected by talent shortages in Asia Pacific. Employers in Singapore (55%), New Zealand (40%), and Australia (38%) are experiencing wage inflation the most due to increased competition for available professional talent. In the U.S., 38 percent of employers reported that talent shortages are causing them to offer higher compensation, and nearly half of employers would have hired more permanent professional staff in the past six months if quality candidates were available.
"The talent shortage is here and wage inflation is increasing in the specialized skill sets and industry sectors where talent is already scarce," said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman & CEO of Manpower Inc. "As those trends increase, employers will have to work much harder to retain and optimize their existing permanent professional employees, and develop innovative ways to attract and retain new talent. Developing a strong employer brand will become even more important as the war for talent heats up."
Talent shortages among permanent professionals are particularly acute in the Americas and Asia Pacific. Employers in Peru (46%), Japan (45%), the U.S. (45%) and Mexico (41%) are having the most difficulty finding qualified professional talent, which is causing wage inflation in these countries. Shortages are far less critical in Europe, with most employers indicating less difficulty finding qualified professional staff.
In Europe, less than 25 percent of employers said they would have hired more permanent professional staff over the past six months if they could have found suitable talent. Shortages of professional candidates were reported by only 12 percent of employers in France, 13 percent in the Netherlands and 15 percent in Belgium. French employers reported the lowest wage inflation with only 8 percent of employers saying that talent shortages are causing them to pay higher salaries compared to a year ago. Austria had the highest wage inflation, as reported by 26 percent of employers surveyed in the country.
Joerres added, "These results build on the findings of Manpower's Talent Shortage Survey undertaken earlier this year, which revealed that many of the hardest to fill positions globally were professional roles, such as accountants, IT programmers and developers, management and executives, and experienced sales representatives."
Manpower Professional conducted a survey of 32,000 employers in 26 countries and territories to determine whether or not their organization would have hired more permanent professional staff over the past six months if it could have found more candidates with the right skills, and whether the talent shortages are causing their organization to pay higher salaries/compensation for professional positions as compared to a year ago. Professional positions refer to jobs that typically require a college degree, such as accountants, engineers, nurses, sales/marketing managers, etc. The 26 countries and territories that participated in the survey are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK, and the U.S.
