to get worse,” says Sean Costello, the Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, USA-based vice president of Experis
North America, ManpowerGroup’s global profes-
sional staffing arm. “It’s preventing companies from
meeting customers’ needs, it’s getting in the way of
their ability to be innovative and it’s having a nega-
tive impact on team morale.”
Thirty-five percent of respondents to Rally the
Talent to Win: Transforming Strategy into Reality, a
2014 Economist Intelligence Unit research program
sponsored by PMI, report that talent deficiencies
have significantly hampered more than one-half of
their efforts at introducing and implementing strat-
egy over the last three years.
Certain sectors, including infrastructure, energy
and IT, have been particularly hard hit. In the
energy sector, for instance, 58 percent of executives in the United States and Canada say they
struggle to find the talent they need, according to
Manpower. Three in four expect the problem to get
worse in the next five years. Meanwhile, 60 percent
of technology leaders say they lack access to the
right resources—a 33 percent increase from 2013,
according to Harvey Nash’s 2014 CIO survey.
“Companies that can’t find talent are at a real
disadvantage in achieving their business goals,” Mr.
Costello says.
While creatively filling short-term openings,
organizations need to think more holistically and
strategically about how to minimize talent shortages in the long term.
More than one in three global employers report
difficulty finding candidates with the right skills to
fill open positions, according to a 2014 ManpowerGroup survey of more than 37,000 employers in
42 countries. More than half of global employers
experiencing a talent shortage say the dearth of talent hurts their ability to meet client needs.
PwC’s recent survey of CEOs found that 93
percent say they recognize the need to make a
change to, or are already changing, their strategy
for attracting and retaining talent. But there’s still
an enormous gulf between intention and action:
A staggering 61 percent of CEOs haven’t yet taken
the first step. Only 23 percent of respondents in
PMI’s 2014 study, Rally the Talent to Win:
Transforming Strategy into Reality, believe
senior leadership gives strategic talent
management the priority it deserves. This
is not surprising, as a minority of executives surveyed are actively involved in
setting talent management priorities or in
mentoring future corporate leaders.
The talent crisis is even more pressing
for organizations looking for project management talent. Four in five organizations
struggle to find qualified project practitioners to fill open positions, according
to PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® In-Depth
Report: Talent Management.
“It’s the most significant talent shortage
we have seen in seven years, and it’s going
he global talent shortage has hit a
seven-year high, and it’s having a
serious impact on how organizations
plan, manage and deliver their projects.
“It’s the most
significant talent
shortage we have
seen in seven years,
and it’s going to
get worse.”
—Sean Costello, Experis North America,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
