Are You Dealing with the Global Skills Shortage?

Businesses are, or should be, planning for the long term. After all, why start a business if you don’t plan on being around in the next five or more years? And while we have heard platitudes for years that “employees are our best assets”, few companies have been able to successfully systematise this theme in any meaningful way.

However, just over the horizon … in the next five years we will be seeing a massive shift in the nature and make-up of our workforces. The retirement of the “baby boomer” generation will see knowledge and experience disappearing from businesses all around the world. The corresponding intake of “Generation Y” is expected to match the numbers of retirees. But the losses around business knowledge and experience are going to force employers to look closely at their training, enablement and knowledge transfer programs. But before you can even get to training, you first need to ATTRACT staff to your business.

This video explains the way that some large scale businesses in Prague are looking at the workforce challenges. BASF, SAP and Evanic Industries are seeking to attract the lucrative and motivated Gen Y crowd and have begun to transform the way that they position employment and structure roles. Those companies that are actively involved in, and understand, social media are beginning to see that this is a creative differentiator in the war for talent.

How are you dealing with a global skills shortage? What makes your business a great place to work? I’d love to hear your stories.

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