What is a skills shortage?
A skills shortage exists if there are more vacancies than job seekers in an occupation. By contrast, an oversupply of skilled staff exists if there are more job seekers than job vacancies in an occupation. Skills shortages and an oversupply of skilled staff are key both for companies and for job seekers. The more people who are affected by unemployment or the more companies that are affected by the skills shortage, the more relevant the phenomenon becomes for the economy and society.
What does a skills shortage mean for employees?
A significant skills shortage makes looking for work easier for employees. In concrete terms, this means the more vacancies and the fewer job seekers there are per job, the greater the chance of finding a job is. In addition, the skills shortage determines how great employees’ bargaining power is in relation to conditions such as salary or part-time hours.
What does a skills shortage mean for companies?
Companies strive to find the most suitable employees to fill their vacancies, as this plays a key role in their commercial success. The greater the specific occupational skills shortage, the harder it is for companies to find suitable candidates for their vacant positions. In addition, unfilled vacancies hamper economic performance and capacity to innovate not just for individual companies, but also for the economy as a whole. Companies have to pursue innovative strategies in order to counteract the skills shortage. Fewer and fewer skilled staff are being courted by more and more companies.
What does a skills shortage mean for our economy and society?
Firstly, unfilled vacancies hamper economic performance. Secondly, the high unemployment rate associated with an oversupply of skilled staff adversely impacts the social security system. Cooperation is thus needed between politicians and business so that people choose occupations affected by the skills shortage or do not leave these. This requires attractive working conditions that meet the needs of skilled staff, e.g. parents who face the challenge of reconciling family and career. In addition, people with qualifications for which there is little demand any more should as far as possible be able to continue their education or retrain so that they are in demand again on the job market.