Skilled Trades Shortage Could Stall Growth

Manpower Warns Global Skilled Trades Shortage Could Stall Future Economic Growth

Strategic Migration, Promoting Skilled Trades Key to Plugging Talent Gap

[New Zealand] (25 August 2010) As the global economy recovers from recession, strategic migration policies will be needed in order to create a mobile workforce and plug the gap of skilled workers, Manpower New Zealand says in a new discussion paper.

Shortages of skilled workers are acute in many of the world’s biggest economies, including the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Brazil, where employers ranked skilled trades as their number one or number two hiring challenge, according to Manpower’s Talent Shortage Survey. Here in New Zealand, employers are also struggling to find skilled trades workers, indicating that they represent the 4th most difficult position to fill.

In a new World of Work Insight Paper titled: “Strategic Migration – a Short-Term Solution to the Skilled Trades Shortage, Manpower suggests that as the global economy recovers from recession, strategic migration policies are necessary in order to create a mobile workforce and plug the gap of skilled workers.

“The lack of skilled blue-collar workers can impede the progress of infrastructure projects and jeopardize national growth. It’s a problem that we must address for the long-term to foster economic health and fuel business growth. In the meantime, increasing the mobility of these workers can help ease the shortage.” said Mr Chris Riley, General Manager, Manpower New Zealand.

Strategic Migration calls for long-term, collaborative strategies to alleviate shortages of skilled workers, including promoting positive attitudes towards skilled trades and ensuring that the technical training workers receive reflects the current demands of industry. Although migration can provide an immediate solution, these domestic policies should take priority to shape an indigenous workforce for the long term.

“Inadequate training and myths relating to skilled trades are creating a dangerous shortage of skilled workers. Employers and governments need to bring prestige back to the skilled trades and ensure that New Zealand skilled workers have the necessary technical and ‘soft’ skills to plug the shortage. While our economy recovers from the recession, providing training programs informed and working to promote skilled trades as a viable career choice could open up these jobs to a wider talent pool, alleviating unemployment as well as helping businesses manage their needs effectively,” added Mr Riley.

A workforce that meets the needs of business is vital to ensure that Australia’s economy flourishes in the future, says Mr Riley.

“Addressing shortages with strategic migration in the short term and changing perceptions and training programs in the long-term is the key to creating an environment which encourages infrastructure projects and national growth. While this insight paper discusses how appropriately flexible, or strategic, migration of skilled workers is key to plugging a significant portion of the talent gap, it goes far beyond that.

“The migrations constraints associated with talent mobility affect all career fields and therefore, all countries. It will be one that governments around the world will need to collaborate with businesses, trade, academic and educational institutions on, in order to fuel healthy economic growth and prosperity in the future,” he said.

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