Job Market Monitor
Skills Gap
Skills Gap in Canada – How the myth was shattered
It took nine months of detective work by economists, journalists, social media sleuths and investigators at the Parliamentary Budget Office to solve the mystery of Canada’s missing job vacancies. Last week auditor general Mike Ferguson made it official: the federal government was using unreliable statistics to support its claim that Canada had plenty of jobs … Continue reading
Skills Gap in US – We are not doing an adequate job of preparing our workforce says Philadelphia Fed President
U.S. employers are having trouble finding workers with the needed skills in science, technology, engineering and math, a top Federal Reserve official said on Monday. “We are seeing a mismatch of skills in the workforce and the jobs that are being created,” Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said of the so-called STEM-trained workers who are … Continue reading
Skills Gap in US – It could compromise competitiveness manufacturers say
American manufacturers are increasingly finding that prospective workers do not have the skill set required to perform necessary job functions, such as basic math and computer abilities. The so-called “skills gap,” if unresolved, could compromise manufacturers’ ability to stay competitive, according to some industry leaders. The cause of the gap is multifaceted. Manufacturing activity has increased in the U.S. … Continue reading
Close the Skills Gap in US – Why are apprenticeships in decline?
Apprenticeships can offer a precise match between the skills employers want and the training workers receive, says Robert Lerman, an economics professor at American University. “It’s a great model for transferring skills from one generation to the next,” says John Ladd, director of the Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship. Nevertheless, according to the Labor … Continue reading
UK – Talent mismatch costs more than £1bn to employers
Businesses from all the major economies, including the UK, are losing billions of pounds through recruitment errors. This is mainly caused by employees’ inability to adapt and retrain for new roles and industries. PwC and LinkedIn released the study, Adapt to Survive, this week. It looks at a profile of 277 million professionals and 2,600 … Continue reading
Skills Gap in US – We need to kill this zombie writes Krugman
The point is that influential people move in circles in which repeating the skills-gap story — or, better yet, writing about skill gaps in media outlets like Politico — is a badge of seriousness, an assertion of tribal identity. And the zombie shambles on. Unfortunately, the skills myth — like the myth of a looming … Continue reading
Petroleum Services Association of Canada – The next bottleneck is going to be skilled labor
Asked what keeps him awake at night, the president and CEO of the Petroleum Services Association of Canada, Mark Salkeld, says, “Labor, labor and labor.” At PSAC, Mark Salkeld represents 260 energy services companies that employ more than 80,000 people. He and all of the HR executives at his member companies know that employment in … Continue reading
Middle East – A growing gap between education and market demand
Educational challenges across the Middle East vary from country to country, but one thing remains the same – the growing gap between education and market demand. The urgent need for educators to produce graduates who possess skills sought after by employers took centre stage on Monday at a panel discussion during the second day of … Continue reading
The Skills Gap in Cambodia – Over half of the firms feel that vocational education and training programs do not yet meet the needs
The shortages of skilled labor and quality human resources are among the greatest challenges facing the Cambodian economy, a new survey revealed Wednesday. The survey was done based on the interviews of 355 enterprises nationwide by the International Labor Organization and the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations ( CAMFEBA). “In terms of … Continue reading
The Skills Gap – North America is the only place in the world that thinks of companies as consumers of skills
There’s a very slim volume out from Wharton Press called, Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs. It’s by Peter Cappelli, a management professor from the University of Pennsylvania, who adapted the book from a series of articles he wrote for the Wall Street Journal in 2010 and 2011. The book takes a simple “myth-busting” approach to … Continue reading
The Skills Gap in US – Mismatch across industries and occupations explains at most one-third of the total observed increase in the unemployment rate
Aysegul Sahin, Joseph Song, Giorgio Topa and Giovanni L. Violante develop a framework where mismatch between vacancies and job seekers across sectors translates into higher unemployment by lowering the aggregate job-finding rate in Mismatch Unemployment (Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports ). They use this framework to measure the contribution of mismatch to the recent rise … Continue reading
Skills Gap / An important issue for 91.2% of working Canadians
Addressing the skills gap continues to be top of mind with Canadian workers, according to a new study by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Randstad Canada. In fact, more than nine-in-ten (91.2%) of working Canadians say they feel that the skills shortage/skills gap will continue to be an issue of importance in Canada in 2014. The … Continue reading
Canada / Skills gap top barrier to competitiveness says Chamber of Commerce
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has unveiled its Top 10 Barriers to Competitiveness for 2014, identifying Canada’s growing skills gap as the greatest impediment to business success. Launched in 2012, the initiative is meant to draw attention to barriers holding back Canada’s progress and to urge swift action by the government to improve the country’s … Continue reading
Skills Gap in US / A barrier to growth for 25 percent of the private companies
Overall, U.S. CEO confidence is improving in 2014, but one area where optimism continues to lag behind is in finding a qualified workforce. According to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers Private Company Trendsetter Barometer, 57 percent of companies plan to hire in 2014, but over 25 percent of the private companies surveyed cited finding qualified workers as … Continue reading
Skills Gap in UK / Rise in job vacancies, but skills shortages accelerate says UKCES
A sharp rise in skills shortages could be holding back the UK’s economic recovery, according to new research published today (30 January). The report from the government’s skills experts, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, finds that the number of job vacancies in England has returned to pre-recession levels. However, so-called “skills shortage vacancies” … Continue reading
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