Is your workplace having a hard time chasing down suitable talent? It’s a hard game to play, chasing after that one strong candidate who is ready to stay in place. Employers have had challenges with hard-to-fill positions for some time. Businesses in North America struggled to fill (and retain staff in) “hot skills” areas since the late nineties.
If someone has the hot skill they disrupt business because they can simply choose to work as a contractor, charging more. When money is not the issue, skilled workers just decide for themselves the location and conditions of their work. I once worked in an office that abandoned standard business attire because the Information Technology staff refused to wear ties.
There are skills shortages in parts of India, according to this recent article. In India’s law enforcement sector, there is the perception that government officials are not placing a high priority on filling job vacancies. This implies a large-scale manager error. The defence sector notes that people are leaving their sector to work in other parts of the economy where they are treated better. In healthcare, professionals are declining to work in rural areas where there is relatively little infrastructure. In the education sector, professors are declining to work outside of major cities, so rural and small town job postings stay vacant.
What is noteworthy is that the situation in India persists in a land of 1.2 billion people. When hiring managers seek out talent to fill vacancies they will often encounter a feast or famine of job applicants. It’s a double bind. In a society that struggles with the personal and political turmoil of unemployment and economic hardship, employers must also struggle to find a single qualified applicant.
In this rodeo, employers might think they are the cowboy. But sometimes they are the calf.
Stuart Murray Speaks 