October 27th, 2011 → 1:01 pm @ Gabe // One Comment

Business owners, Peter Cappelli is calling you out in his Wall Street Journal article “Why Companies Aren’t Getting the Employees They Need.”

Some of these companies may benefit from a refresher reading of the classic, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” Why you ask? With unemployment hovering around 9% companies are still complaining that they can’t find skilled workers, and that filling a job can take months of hunting. I’m curious how it can be so difficult to fill a position with so many people out there hunting for work? While employers blame schools for their lack of qualified candidates, Cappelli suggests they are too quick to lay blame.

From my perspective I realize there is a shortage of skilled labor in some industries, but some employer do seem rather quick to point fingers. Some have raised their standards with the abundance of job seekers. For some reason many employers out there feel they should be able to find their ideal new employee who will be ready to jump in head first without any training.

Cappelli goes as far as to say, “In other words, to get a job, you have to have that job already. It’s a Catch-22 situation for workers – and its hurting companies and the economy.” Like the boy who cried wolf, employers seem premature in some of their complaining. Imagine what recruiting will be like when the unemployment rate decreases.

“Some of the complaints about skill shortages boil down to the fact that employers can’t get candidates to accept jobs at the wages offered. That’s an affordability problem, not a skill shortage. A real shortage means not being able to find appropriate candidates at market-clearing wages,” writes Cappelli.

Successful companies will find that if they take the time to invest in employees and their training, their investment will be reciprocated. Someone has to take a chance on the recent grad and show them the ropes, and those willing to do so will be rewarded with a loyal employee. Those in our industry would be smart to bring some of these young guys on board before all their baby boomers retire and there are fewer left to show the new talent the way. Especially due to the impending labor shortages in the HVAC industry, the companies unwilling to take a chance on the new guy will have a hard time continuing their success.

To read more on this topic visit TLNT and checkout what John Holton had to say in his article on the topic entitled “Are We Short of Skilled Workers, or Is It Just a Training Problem?”

Tags: hiring, job, labor shortage, recruiting, skilled talent, skilled workers, talent acquisition, Talent shortage, training, Wage