Almost three quarters of employers in Scotland (71%) have said that, to address skill shortages, they would be willing to employ staff without the necessary skills, while more than a fifth (22%) have increased their training budget to focus on up-skilling staff.
Between the end of August and the end of September, recruitment firm Hays surveyed 13,421 professionals and employers across the UK, including 900 from Scotland, finding that as 94% of Scottish employers have experienced skills shortages in the past 12 months.
Despite current economic uncertainty, 83% of employers in Scotland are still planning to hire staff, which is slightly higher than the number reported this time last year.
Hays Scotland director Keith Mason said that means there's currently a real need for employers to look outside their usual recruitment pool to fill posts. “They should consider hiring staff from other related sectors or professions, and work to retrain staff with potential, while boosting their training budget to up-skill existing staff.
“It’s also really important that employers aim to attract talent from south of the border or abroad - many professionals may have studied and begun their career in Scotland, then moved away for other opportunities - we need to encourage that talent to migrate back here.”
The research also revealed that 56% of professionals in Scotland are planning to move jobs in the next 12 months. However, this figure is quite low compared to the number of employers expecting to hire staff.
Over the last year, 82% of employers in Scotland have increased their employees’ salaries or rates of pay, compared to just 57% who did so the year before.
However, over half (51%) said this is not only to retain staff, but a direct result of the rise in the cost of living. Additionally, a greater proportion of employers offered staff a performance-related bonus this year (46%).
The Hays survey also showed that skills shortages are having a negative impact on productivity (42%), employee morale (41%) and the ability to deliver projects (42%).
“Salary, flexible working, employee benefits – these are all important,” commented Mason. “But an organisation’s employee value proposition should also cover equality, inclusion and sustainability, as especially for younger professionals, these values hold real resonance.”
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