One in four employers will experience recruitment difficulties in the next six months, according to the CIPD’s latest Labour Market Outlook.
The HR body said that 27% of organisations expected “hard-to-fill” vacancies to increase over that period, while almost half report already having vacancies they’re struggling to fill. Forty-seven per cent said they would increase pay in a bid to attract recruits.
The proportion of organisations saying they had hard-to-fill vacancies jumped from 39% in the previous quarter to 47% in the three months up to the end of September.
The sectors experiencing the toughest recruitment challenges are construction, healthcare, public administration and defence, the CIPD said.
Almost three-quarters (71%) of employers planned to recruit in the three months to December 2021– reflecting the highest level of positive hiring intentions since the onset of the pandemic.
Despite expectations that the end of the government’s furlough scheme might lead to widespread job losses, only one in 10 planned to make redundancies, down from 13% in the previous quarter.
Workforce planning
Workforce planning and business confidence survey 2021
Attracting the best candidates: developing and implementing an effective strategy
In response to skills shortages, employers deployed a range of tactics, the CIPD found. Almost half raised wages (47%), while 44% tried to upskill staff, 27% hired more apprentices and said they improved job quality.
The CIPD has called for the government to extend its Youth Mobility Scheme with a temporary job mobility scheme for young EU nationals.
The Youth Mobility Visa currently allows young adults from participating territories to spend up to two years in the UK. Individuals can work or study and the visa is granted via a ballot process.
Gerwyn Davies, senior labour market adviser for the CIPD, said that while many employers were taking steps to broaden their workforce planning strategies, there was “a relatively long tail of employers who could be doing more to attract and make full use of available workers”.
“More business support is required from government to help employers increase their capability to invest in skills and create better quality and more productive jobs. This is essential if the UK economy has any hope of transitioning to a high-skill, high wage economy.”
He added that extending the Youth Mobility Scheme would “prove a timely, cheap and effective ‘safety valve’ to help ease immediate labour shortages”.
“Meanwhile, reforming the apprenticeship levy into a broader, more flexible training levy would give employers the opportunity to use a wider range of qualifications that are more relevant for hard-to fill roles.”
The CIPD’s outlook also revealed that net employment intentions sit at +38, up from +32 last quarter and the highest level since tracking began in 2012/13.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Furthermore, four-fifths of employees are planning a pay review in the 12 months to September 2022, with 39% of this group expecting pay to increase.
Talent management opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more talent management jobs
