More
than a third of employers expect difficulties in recruiting HR managers in the
next six months, according to research by the Recruitment Confidence Index.
It
shows that 38 per cent of the 575 organisations surveyed were having problems
filling key roles in middle and senior HR management, compared with 32 per cent
for the previous six months.
Training
and development managers and compensation and benefits managers are
particularly in demand. Â
Angela
Baron, adviser for employee resourcing at the CIPD, said, "We have
witnessed a tightness in the labour market. Skills shortages appear further up
the management level, in more specialised HR functions."
She
added, "There is not much of a shortage in junior HR roles."
Steve
French, managing director of HR recruitment for TMP Worldwide, said that large
firms have the resources to recruit specialised HR professionals such as
compensation and benefits managers.
The
survey also shows that the engineering sector is suffering. It is the hardest
hit sector with 68 per cent of respondents anticipating recruitment problems
for managerial positions in the next six months.
David
Yeandle, deputy director of the Engineering Employers’ Federation, said,
"We are experiencing serious pockets of skills shortages.
"The
difficulties for employers lie in recruiting for the more specialised technical
staff. It’s a tight labour market and it’s difficult to say whether the problem
will improve."
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IT
followed closely behind, with 63 per cent of organisations expecting problems
in recruiting managerial/professional staff in the next six months.
By
Karen Higginbottom
