Il 78% of Italian companies he is unable to find candidates with the necessary skills for open positions. This figure, the highest ever for Italy, emerges from the report "Talent Shortage"of ManpowerGroup, which interviewed over 40 employers in 42 countries. The phenomenon mainly affects the sectors “transport, logistics and automotive”, “healthcare and life sciences” and “industry and materials”, in addition to medium-large sized companies.
A Globally, 74% of organizations report difficulties in finding talent, while in Europe Italy is in an intermediate position. Germany is doing worse than us, where the skills shortage reaches at 86%, the highest value in the world. France and the United Kingdom stand at 76%, while Poland, with 59%, has fewer difficulties in finding qualified workers.
The most requested skills
The labor market is changing rapidly due to technological development, the introduction of artificial intelligence and the ecological transition. companies require new skills, but the gap between supply and demand is ever wider. The digital skills are the most difficult to find, with one in four employers (24%) reporting difficulty in finding IT professionals. This is followed by administrative skills (18%) and those related to manufacturing, logistics, front-office and customer relations (17%).
The most affected sectors
In Italy, companies in the sectors “Transport, Logistics and Automotive” are the hardest hit by the talent shortage, with 84% reporting difficulties in recruiting. The sector also “Healthcare and life sciences” records a high rate of talent shortage (83%), followed by “Industry and materials” (82%). The problem is more felt in medium-sized companies (50-249 employees) and medium-large companies (250-999), with a percentage of 82% and 79% respectively.
Strategies to bridge the gap
Faced with this skills crisis, the companies are adopting different strategiesThe most widespread is theupskilling and the staff reskilling already present in the company, chosen by 22% of organizations. 17% focus on greater flexibility in working hours and places, while 16% opt for increased wages. Other solutions include Recruitment of new external talent (15%), the hiring of temporary staff (15%) and theProcess automation with artificial intelligence (14%). Only 9% of companies think of reduce the skills required of candidates to facilitate hiring.
The importance of training
“Technological development, the introduction of new technologies such as AI and the ecological transition are promoting a rapidly changing world of work. To fill new or profoundly transformed positions a renewed set of skills is needed constantly updated. As our report shows, this has currently led to a gap between the requests of companies and the skills possessed by candidates" he stated Anna Gionfriddo, managing director of ManpowerGroup Italy. “It therefore emerges with force the importance of training and upskilling and reskilling of skills. The synergy between institutions, companies, schools and universities remains fundamental. In the short term, companies have the opportunity to update the skills of collaborators and candidates with targeted and concentrated training also thanks to Academies such as those of Manpower and Experis. More in the long term, predictive studies help us identify the skills that will be required in the coming years, on which to build medium-term training programs – such as ITS – and set the training directions of schools and universities”.
