Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

ApprenticeshipsLatest NewsCareer developmentJob creation and lossesLearning & development

A quarter think hiring is biggest business challenge

by Jo Faragher 7 Oct 2021
by Jo Faragher 7 Oct 2021 A third had left positions vacant because they could not find the right candidate
Shutterstock
A third had left positions vacant because they could not find the right candidate
Shutterstock

Almost two-thirds of business leaders are struggling with recruitment, and a quarter consider this their single biggest challenge, according to new research.

The Open University’s annual Business Barometer in conjunction with the Institute of Directors found that 45% of organisations are having trouble recruiting for non-senior roles.

More than half of those polled (56%) believe apprenticeships and work-based learning will play a crucial role in long-term success, up eight percentage points on last year’s survey.

Around a quarter (24%) of leaders who responded thought that finding staff with the right skills would be their biggest challenge over the next five years. Almost all said they would maintain or increase the number of apprentices in their organisation.

Viren Patel, director of the business development unit at the Open University said the latest barometer results showed the skills gap was here for the long term.

“The skills and labour shortage is being felt across multiple sectors of the UK economy and many employers see this as a long term challenge,” he said.

“Almost two-thirds of organisation leaders admit they have struggled to find the right people with the right experience, demonstrating the need for enhanced training to nurture employee skills, knowledge and workplace learning.”

A third of employers said that leaving vacancies unfilled meant their existing staff were at risk of overwork, which could potentially impact their wellbeing. A third also said they had left a role vacant because there were no appropriate candidates.

Thirty-two per cent had introduced new training to existing employees to close the skills gap, the survey found.

Kitty Ussher, chief economist at the IoD, added: “On the plus side, we are also seeing optimism around the potential for remote working to fill skills gaps and an appreciation of the role of apprenticeships to train tomorrow’s workers.

“We’re asking the UK government to put lifelong learning, retraining and upskilling at the heart of their forthcoming Budget so that firms and individuals alike can fully take advantage of the massive opportunities that are available as our economy recovers and restructures.”

Performance and engagement opportunities on Personnel Today


Browse more performance and engagement jobs

Jo Faragher
Jo Faragher

Jo Faragher has been an employment and business journalist for 20 years. She regularly contributes to Personnel Today and writes features for a number of national business and membership magazines. She won the Willis Towers Watson HR journalist of the year award in 2015 and has been highly commended twice.

previous post
Next chief executive: Pay a ‘visa tax’ to access foreign labour
next post
Post-furlough redundancy surge has not happened

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

Economic outlook slows hiring despite skills shortfalls

5 Aug 2022

CIPD: Stop using degrees to screen candidates

3 Aug 2022

Businesses missing out on ‘rebound’ employees

25 Jul 2022

Employees struggle to take time off over summer

22 Jul 2022

Ryanair boss urges ministers to help hire more...

22 Jul 2022

Why ‘micro-upskilling’ is essential for productivity

18 Jul 2022

Pay all care workers a £10.50 hourly minimum...

30 Jun 2022

Staff shortages affecting business growth at three in...

29 Jun 2022

Graduate salaries rise sharply as search for talent...

27 Jun 2022

Young people need more guidance over ‘green jobs’

24 Jun 2022
  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more
  • Preventing Burnout: How can HR help key workers get the right help? PROMOTED | Workplace wellbeing may seem a distant memory...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+