People power successful companies. Skilled people make your business what it is. But labor shortages and skill mismatches will present challenges for employers in the future. It’s wise to plan for it now.
The Shrinking Workforce
Over the next few decades, we will see labor shortages on a global scale, as the Boston Consulting Group detailed in July 2014. Germany faces a projected 10 million dollar shortage by 2030, with Italy, Russia, Poland, Brazil, and South Korea seeing similar shortfalls. Some countries enjoying surpluses in 2020 will see deficits by 2030.
Why?
The shrinking workforce can be traced to:
- Declining birth rates
- Increasing retirement
- Immigration policies
- Yearly working hours
- Worker productivity/skill levels
The Skill Mismatch
Simultaneously, we’ll face a skilled-worker scarcity. This means huge problems with education, qualification, and expertise.
So what’s the role of technology in this skill mismatch?
Jobs have been replaced by technology for years, but we always need more people and more jobs. On the other hand, technology is a big asset, making people more efficient with robots, artificial intelligence, big data, and automation. So it’s not about robots replacing people, but whether technology can help solve this global workforce problem. The answer to that question is yes. And no. Or rather “it depends.”
Automation keeps replacing people, but we’ll keep creating new jobs that require new skills. And this is going to make the skill mismatch worse. Talented, highly skilled people will be the big thing in the next decade.
As you can see from the BCG research, this workforce problem is just around the corner and, right now, we’re at the turning point. How should you prepare for it?
The Solution
With the Baby Boomers retiring, there will be fewer people in the job market. You have to keep the workers you have. To do that, you need a talent management strategy:
- Skill Assessment Plan: What competencies, roles, and functions are you going to need in the future? Workforce planning and HR will be key here.
- Talent Recruitment Plan: How are you going to recruit the experienced workers you need? When expanding your workforce, think not just women and Generation Y, but also retirees.
- Education and Upskill Plan: You will have to create the highly skilled workers that will be lacking in the future. Now’s the time to draft the plan for training and upskilling employees.
- Worker Retention Plan: Now that you’ve got your top-notch staff, how are you going to keep them?
- Great, employee-centered culture
- Make your employees excited to come to work.
- Employees are in the jobs that match their skills.
- Clear purpose concisely communicated
- Rewarding environment focused on people and learning
So now, with all this information, the questions for you going forward will be:
- · Will the workforce problems affect your company?
- · What are you going to do about it?
- · Do you have a learning culture?
- · Do you need a Learning and Talent Management System?
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Source:
The Hard Facts: Acute Shortages, Unrelenting Surpluses https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/management_two_speed_economy_public_sector_global_workforce_crisis/?chapter=2
