Despite retrenchments, skills shortage persists – globally

It is not only the South African freight industry that is facing a skills shortage. An inability to recruit and keep the right people, and a skills mismatch are hitting companies’ bottom lines worldwide, according to a report issued by Professional Services Firm PwC. Only a minority of those interviewed were “very confident” that they would have access to the talent that they will need over the next three years. PwC asked nearly 1 300 CEOs in 60 countries – including 32 in South Africa – about their priorities and how they were preparing for the future. Talent emerged as one of the biggest issues facing the boardroom. “It is a unique challenge – companies are struggling to find and keep the right talent when there are more educated people than ever before and a worldwide talent pool is available to them,” says Gerald Seegers, director for human resources services at PwC Southern Africa. More than half of South African CEOs confirmed that it was becoming more difficult to recruit workers in their industries, citing the supply of skilled candidates, changing skills needs and compensation expectations as the leading reasons for this. CEOs across all industries said it had become more difficult to find the skills they needed, even in industries within which retrenchments had taken place. “Organisations cannot realise their growth objectives without the right people to make it happen. Businesses that develop a well-informed approach to strategic workforce planning have an opportunity to gain a crucial competitive edge,” says Seegers.