Labour shortage?
Discussion
Public sector here. We've noticed a huge difference in the last 12 months of a) number of candidates applying for our jobs and b) the quality of candidate. It's reduced drastically.
This may be partly due to typically lower salaries we offer compared to equivalent private sector but then that's always been the case and we haven't struggled like this before. We've never taken in many Europeans so can't blame Brexit.
The only thing I can think of is that we've always been good on flexible working and now that everyone offers more flexibility, we've lost that advantage.
E.g. 3 years ago, I advertised a scientific/technical job paying £25k and got over 50 applicants from all over the country and some other countries (UK citizens working abroad mostly). Same job advertised a few months ago and got 7 applicants, only 3 worth interviewing.
Is it just us or are other sectors finding it hard to recruit/retain?
This may be partly due to typically lower salaries we offer compared to equivalent private sector but then that's always been the case and we haven't struggled like this before. We've never taken in many Europeans so can't blame Brexit.
The only thing I can think of is that we've always been good on flexible working and now that everyone offers more flexibility, we've lost that advantage.
E.g. 3 years ago, I advertised a scientific/technical job paying £25k and got over 50 applicants from all over the country and some other countries (UK citizens working abroad mostly). Same job advertised a few months ago and got 7 applicants, only 3 worth interviewing.
Is it just us or are other sectors finding it hard to recruit/retain?
Yep... we can't get builders, window/door/conservatory fitters and despite us ordering bricks in June for a job this week we were told that that type of brick aren't available in the UK until March. It's f
ked.
That said though, the public sector will never attract the best of the best I'm afraid and the private sector pays much better so that'll always trump it. No disrespect intended
ked. That said though, the public sector will never attract the best of the best I'm afraid and the private sector pays much better so that'll always trump it. No disrespect intended
bucksmanuk said:
Shortage of staff?
Shortage of willingness to pay for it usually…
As a business owner myself I will counter that, its also the lack of willingness of the customer to pay for it as well.Shortage of willingness to pay for it usually…
Weve noticed that although on average costs have gone up around 25% for us that customers are all wanting things done cheaper than before when the reality is prices have to go up.
No one wins when wages are inflated as prices have to go up to counter the effect meaning its just one big circle.
I work in finance and recruiting is a total nightmare, other than trainees which start from the bottom, it is impossible to get staff with any level of experience - we had our best financial year ever last year as an organisation and are at the point of turning down some work which used to be unheard of for us.
We are now actively recruiting overseas for English speaking professionals to work remotely for us - someone at the company thought this was a bright idea - on interviewing a foreign bod yesterday, it seems clear everyone else is doing the same however as the interviewee had other interviews lined up in UK (and Ireland interestingly).
Once things open up more, hopefully very soon, I suspect wage inflation (among other things) will tempt a fair few staff away from us, and although there will no doubt be more "on the market" for us to replace them with, the costs will be higher.
As existing staff have not had much of a payrise at all the discrepancies with new starts will need to be "managed".
We are now actively recruiting overseas for English speaking professionals to work remotely for us - someone at the company thought this was a bright idea - on interviewing a foreign bod yesterday, it seems clear everyone else is doing the same however as the interviewee had other interviews lined up in UK (and Ireland interestingly).
Once things open up more, hopefully very soon, I suspect wage inflation (among other things) will tempt a fair few staff away from us, and although there will no doubt be more "on the market" for us to replace them with, the costs will be higher.
As existing staff have not had much of a payrise at all the discrepancies with new starts will need to be "managed".
Had a conversation with my brother in law over Christmas who works for an Airline/ holiday company in engineering, he was telling me that the airline are struggling to recruit call centre staff who earn the minimum wage or thereabouts because there is significant competition from business looking to recruit at those kind of wage levels that people willing to accept that pay can pick and choose where they work currently so where pay is the same I guess they look at other perks and working options.
The airline has now effectively closed their call centre and allowed all staff to work from home permanently because that's what employees want and if they didn't allow it the staff were simply going to go to other call centre type work where they could work from home instead, apart from anything else when on minimum wage travel costs will be a significant dent in the income.
The airline has now effectively closed their call centre and allowed all staff to work from home permanently because that's what employees want and if they didn't allow it the staff were simply going to go to other call centre type work where they could work from home instead, apart from anything else when on minimum wage travel costs will be a significant dent in the income.
robdcfc said:
As a business owner myself I will counter that, its also the lack of willingness of the customer to pay for it as well.
Weve noticed that although on average costs have gone up around 25% for us that customers are all wanting things done cheaper than before when the reality is prices have to go up.
No one wins when wages are inflated as prices have to go up to counter the effect meaning its just one big circle.
Exactly this. Smaller firms are more understanding but the major contracts want discounts now on prices that were agreed in 2019. We've seen the same 25-30% hike on pretty much everything. Weve noticed that although on average costs have gone up around 25% for us that customers are all wanting things done cheaper than before when the reality is prices have to go up.
No one wins when wages are inflated as prices have to go up to counter the effect meaning its just one big circle.
Had a part time job advertised for 16 hours. No takers.
Also had a few 6 hour vacancys so it doesn't effect any benefit payments etc always good to cover busy shifts with some help without commiting to loads of hours etc.
So far managed one elderly woman who only wants to work 6 hours to stop boredom at the weekend and look after her grandkids in the week. Hired instantly. Now another 2 please.
Also had a few 6 hour vacancys so it doesn't effect any benefit payments etc always good to cover busy shifts with some help without commiting to loads of hours etc.
So far managed one elderly woman who only wants to work 6 hours to stop boredom at the weekend and look after her grandkids in the week. Hired instantly. Now another 2 please.
I work in the social housing sector. Generally the terms and conditions are good, pay is decent, work from home is now pretty much the norm for most roles, and you usually get treated well by the employer. Social housing is often seen as a reasonably 'cushy number' akin to the old days of working for a council.
We are advertising numerous vacancies constantly at the moment and just getting nowhere.
One such example would be Relationship Manager roles for £35k. Relatively easy job that most people with intelligence and a bit of housing, contractor, account management, or just any experience relating to suppliers can be trained up to do. You manage the relationships between the long term contractors and housing association. Hold monthly contractor meetings and so on. You don't even have to do the procurement and tendering for the contractors as that is outsourced.
Getting only a small handful of applicants from the last couple of rounds of advertising the position, and they have all been totally unsuitable.
We are getting people leaving the social housing sector all over the place because the private sector is now throwing an extra £10k or £15k onto what we would be offering for the same role.
I'm not complaining because I'm on the consultant/interim side of things, and we've never been busier filling in and covering for the vacancies, but I do accept that this cant go on and there seems to be a wider problem out there of simple not enough people, or the right people, for the job vacancies in almost all sectors.
We are advertising numerous vacancies constantly at the moment and just getting nowhere.
One such example would be Relationship Manager roles for £35k. Relatively easy job that most people with intelligence and a bit of housing, contractor, account management, or just any experience relating to suppliers can be trained up to do. You manage the relationships between the long term contractors and housing association. Hold monthly contractor meetings and so on. You don't even have to do the procurement and tendering for the contractors as that is outsourced.
Getting only a small handful of applicants from the last couple of rounds of advertising the position, and they have all been totally unsuitable.
We are getting people leaving the social housing sector all over the place because the private sector is now throwing an extra £10k or £15k onto what we would be offering for the same role.
I'm not complaining because I'm on the consultant/interim side of things, and we've never been busier filling in and covering for the vacancies, but I do accept that this cant go on and there seems to be a wider problem out there of simple not enough people, or the right people, for the job vacancies in almost all sectors.
xx99xx said:
We've never taken in many Europeans so can't blame Brexit.
Brexit has had a huge influence on the labour market because it has caused a rapid imbalance.It's a little like car sales in that when one is sold, three others move around the market - there's a consequential impact beyond the immediate transaction. The difference is that unlike the sales cars where all those cars are still in the market, Brexit has had the effect of taking a huge number of workers out of the market creating a void.
From what I have seen (from an employers perspective) is that the problem is the greatest in those jobs existing in the £25k to £35k range. Prior to Brexit you had very large numbers of Europeans working manual jobs but actually earning quite high wages. When those workers left, they needed replacing. So a lower level exec in a £30k role in an office sees a job paying £45k to drive a van delivering stuff.... off they go. This leaves a void in traditional tertiary roles that was previously filled by the 'locals' - a void that cannot be filled because many others are doing the same or retained on overly generous salaries to keep them where they are. Irony of all this is, as others have mentioned, is that much of this slack is now being taken up by overseas resources bleeding money out of the economy.
You also have issues with a lack of new intakes in key sectors where insufficient effort was made attracting students - such as building and trades.
Balance will be restored though not anytime soon and in the meantime, we'll see wage levels increase beyond their natural levels to keep and attract staff which will lead to higher inflation and higher prices - as we are indeed starting to see.
A large part of my business used to be providing Doorstep Engagement projects for local authorities. We'd employ anything up to 20 people on contracts lasting between 1 month to a year paying hourly rates of around £12. In 2012, we ran a project and had four times the applicants for the roles available (and such was quality, I would have employed them all if I could). Our last project of this type was in 2019 and we received two less applications than we needed.
But, all that said, I must concede that the blue passports do look nice.
Lord Marylebone said:
I work in the social housing sector. Generally the terms and conditions are good, pay is decent, work from home is now pretty much the norm for most roles, and you usually get treated well by the employer. Social housing is often seen as a reasonably 'cushy number' akin to the old days of working for a council.
We are advertising numerous vacancies constantly at the moment and just getting nowhere.
One such example would be Relationship Manager roles for £35k. Relatively easy job that most people with intelligence and a bit of housing, contractor, account management, or just any experience relating to suppliers can be trained up to do. You manage the relationships between the long term contractors and housing association. Hold monthly contractor meetings and so on. You don't even have to do the procurement and tendering for the contractors as that is outsourced.
Getting only a small handful of applicants from the last couple of rounds of advertising the position, and they have all been totally unsuitable.
We are getting people leaving the social housing sector all over the place because the private sector is now throwing an extra £10k or £15k onto what we would be offering for the same role.
I'm not complaining because I'm on the consultant/interim side of things, and we've never been busier filling in and covering for the vacancies, but I do accept that this cant go on and there seems to be a wider problem out there of simple not enough people, or the right people, for the job vacancies in almost all sectors.
Hi - is it possible to DM me details of how to apply for this yep of role please? Sounds ideal for my wife who is currently working for a private sector property developer on similar lines.We are advertising numerous vacancies constantly at the moment and just getting nowhere.
One such example would be Relationship Manager roles for £35k. Relatively easy job that most people with intelligence and a bit of housing, contractor, account management, or just any experience relating to suppliers can be trained up to do. You manage the relationships between the long term contractors and housing association. Hold monthly contractor meetings and so on. You don't even have to do the procurement and tendering for the contractors as that is outsourced.
Getting only a small handful of applicants from the last couple of rounds of advertising the position, and they have all been totally unsuitable.
We are getting people leaving the social housing sector all over the place because the private sector is now throwing an extra £10k or £15k onto what we would be offering for the same role.
I'm not complaining because I'm on the consultant/interim side of things, and we've never been busier filling in and covering for the vacancies, but I do accept that this cant go on and there seems to be a wider problem out there of simple not enough people, or the right people, for the job vacancies in almost all sectors.
hotchy said:
Had a part time job advertised for 16 hours. No takers.
Also had a few 6 hour vacancys so it doesn't effect any benefit payments etc always good to cover busy shifts with some help without commiting to loads of hours etc.
So far managed one elderly woman who only wants to work 6 hours to stop boredom at the weekend and look after her grandkids in the week. Hired instantly. Now another 2 please.
Yet how many are unemployed and sat at home on benefits? Somethings gone wrong somewhere. Seems we could be close to 100% employment if people had to take a job. Also had a few 6 hour vacancys so it doesn't effect any benefit payments etc always good to cover busy shifts with some help without commiting to loads of hours etc.
So far managed one elderly woman who only wants to work 6 hours to stop boredom at the weekend and look after her grandkids in the week. Hired instantly. Now another 2 please.
BoRED S2upid said:
hotchy said:
Had a part time job advertised for 16 hours. No takers.
Also had a few 6 hour vacancys so it doesn't effect any benefit payments etc always good to cover busy shifts with some help without commiting to loads of hours etc.
So far managed one elderly woman who only wants to work 6 hours to stop boredom at the weekend and look after her grandkids in the week. Hired instantly. Now another 2 please.
Yet how many are unemployed and sat at home on benefits? Somethings gone wrong somewhere. Seems we could be close to 100% employment if people had to take a job. Also had a few 6 hour vacancys so it doesn't effect any benefit payments etc always good to cover busy shifts with some help without commiting to loads of hours etc.
So far managed one elderly woman who only wants to work 6 hours to stop boredom at the weekend and look after her grandkids in the week. Hired instantly. Now another 2 please.
xx99xx said:
E.g. 3 years ago, I advertised a scientific/technical job paying £25k and got over 50 applicants from all over the country and some other countries (UK citizens working abroad mostly). Same job advertised a few months ago and got 7 applicants, only 3 worth interviewing.
Is it just us or are other sectors finding it hard to recruit/retain?
Does sound a bit like the job market 'correcting' itself. Did the vacancy require a degree and a couple of years experience? £25k in 2019 is equivalent to just under £13k in 1995, and recent inflation has probably made that difference a good bit larger now. Not a wage to be dismissed out of hand, but probably not high enough to expect 50 high-quality applicants either.Is it just us or are other sectors finding it hard to recruit/retain?
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 20th January 21:54
Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff