Blog
13 December 2011
Merry Christmas
We are all aware of it, but very few fully understand the relationship between the aging population, growth in the workforce and the annual percentage change in the workforce. In all developed countries, these three factors have been predicted by the UN data on workforce trends to hit an inflection point from 2012. With the working age population (15-64) plateauing as well as the percentage change in the workforce heading towards 0% by 2025, the war for talent shows no signs of letting up.
According to a recent global study, only 15% of companies in North America and Asia believe they have enough qualified successors for key positions.* The picture is slightly better in Europe, but even so, fewer than 30% of European companies feel confidant about the quality and amount of talent in their pipelines. Moreover, in the regions where many comapnies are focusing their growth strategies - emerging markets - the supply of experienced managers is the most limited, and the shortage is expected to continue for another two decades. As a point of interest, Australia comes third behind Japan and India as the most difficult at 54%**
So while the global economic downturn may have masked the talent shortage for several years, the global recovery has made the strains of the talent shortage more evident, as organisations are discovering that they need more of the right people in place to move forward and support their business strategy. With recent events unfolding in Europe, it is clear then that there will be no return to the pre-GFC "business as usual".
Instead, organisations are now operating in the “new normal,” where the economic pressures of the last few years have forced them to do more with less, and they’ve discovered that they can accomplish amazing things despite reduced resources—as long as they have the right people in place. Talent is becoming the key competitive differentiator, and countries and companies with access to the right talent are positioning themselves to succeed in the rapidly changing world of work.
* Harvard Business Review October 2011
**ManpowerGroup Talent Shortage Survey Results 2011