Study warns: shortage of skilled workers will continue to worsen

There is a shortage of qualified specialists. This is also confirmed by 73 percent of 250 companies surveyed across a wide range of industries in the DACH region: the shortage will continue to worsen, according to the figures in the "Industry Report on Skilled Workers Shortage 2022" collected by Skilltree, a European manufacturer of HR software. Seventy-two percent of companies are only managing a limited number of projects because of it - and having to turn down anything beyond that. "Many employers have been misled into overlooking internal employee resources over the hunt for external talent. Instead of knowing the individual skills and also targeting them for in-house training, HR departments only focus externally," explains study editor Markus Skergeth and managing director of Skilltree. His company addresses this problem by helping employers and employees learn about skills and match them with tasks and projects. In this way, the shortage of skilled workers can be quickly alleviated - because up to 30 percent of the missing skills are already available in the company, without the decision-makers being aware of it.

Previous Jobs: Unknown  

For example, among current employers, only 18 percent know the full career background of their employees - while nearly 50 percent don't, or don't know it for every employee. "While work experience is still important in the application phase, it begins to blur from the start - new employees tend to be 'sorted in' during onboarding, instead of making good use of the skills they learned in previous jobs," Markus Skergeth further analyzes. A software-supported skills analysis, on the other hand, allows optimal management of resources - and often unlocks potential in employees that has previously remained hidden from team leaders and managers. "Our solution closes an essential gap that we have seen in numerous projects in companies. Human resources don't just exist on the job market - they exist primarily within their own company," explains the Skilltree CEO. Yet more than 50 percent of the 250 study participants surveyed do not use a database to record employee skills - 30 percent at least sporadically, and less than ten percent use a fully comprehensive skills management solution.

Special talents remain unused  

The ignorance of some employers is even more striking when it comes to special knowledge and skills such as foreign languages: Less than 20 percent of companies motivate their employees to contribute such achievements and talents - 45 percent, on the other hand, hardly at all. "Our skill matching motivates employees and ensures greater satisfaction through greater visibility. This means that part of the skills shortage is already dissolving," adds Markus Skergeth. The 250 company representatives surveyed from the executive floors therefore emphatically agree with the need for a skills management solution: 69 percent see the creation of a skills and competency database as an opportunity to be able to alleviate the shortage of skilled workers through internal forces. According to the "Industry Report on the Shortage of Skilled Workers 2022," this is associated with drastic savings in personnel recruitment: 30 percent of those surveyed believe that savings of up to 25 percent are possible, and another 27 percent even see savings of between 25 and 50 percent.

Source: Skilltree