Unfortunately, the British economy has not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels and the skills shortages remains a familiar problem for UK employers, particularly within transport and logistics, hospitality and manufacturing and construction industries.
Impacting both productivity and profit, data reveals the reasons for this slow recovery are pandemic repercussions and tight post-Brexit immigration law.
In order to flourish, businesses need to remain proactive and on top of skills shortages. Here are some tips to help those facing labour challenges in 2023.
How to Tackle Skills Shortages
Invest in Recruitment
With only a finite amount of top talent available to the market, time is of the essence when it comes to recruiting, so it could be extremely beneficial to employ a recruitment agency to facilitate this for you. As a third party operating outside of your business, they may have much wider referral networks and the ability to pinpoint the right people with the requisite work experience.
Often, recruiters will specialise in their own different industries, so it’s wise to use one which aligns with your own particular needs. Enrolling your own agency can help you find new talent fast and those with the core skills to help your company reach its goals.
Upskill Your Current Staff
Instead of external recruitment, utilise your existing employees and maximise their skills. Is there someone who can be moulded with a little training? Upskilling may take on many different forms and can include on-site training, e-learning, workshops or self-reflection tasks. This can be a largely low-risk, inexpensive process which can really enhance your workforce.
Organisations with more resource may even pay to enrol their staff through external providers such as university or colleges. A personalised investment in your workforce can really engender loyalty and even provide a useful PR opportunity.
Say Yes to Apprenticeships
For a longer-term approach, one solution to skills shortages may be to use apprenticeships as one arm of your recruitment process. Apprenticeships can enable employers to reach a wider talent pool while, for prospective employees, they can offer a strong, high-quality alternative to the university degree.
Employers can identify skills gaps then roll out training accordingly. Their inherent mix of training and paid work can be more cost-effective than typical graduate-style recruitment all the while offering apprentices the chance to earn while they learn. Using a wide range of recruitment channels and building links with links with educational institutions can be a useful way of finding talent at the source.
Boost Your Marketing Presence
Enhancing your company’s marketing strategy can make you more of an attractive prospect to future employees. As well as partnering with local education institutions, look to push your company vacancies page often on social media – or even in the local press. This increased brand awareness will likely improve the number of enquiries of people hunting for jobs and plugging your skills shortages.
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