[HR Leaders Only] If there are 10 million job openings and only 6 million available workers, why is it so hard to find talent? Elaborate on one reason.

It can be hard to find talent because top-tier brands are often the ones that are the most competitive for talent. The best talent wants to work for the best companies. Another reason it can be hard to find talent is that many talented people already have jobs. The job market has been improving in recent years, so many talented people who were unemployed during the recession have found jobs and are now less available to be recruited. Finally, finding good talent can be tough because some talented people just aren't looking for a new job. They may be happy with their current position or they may not think there are any good opportunities out there. Despite these challenges, it is still possible to find great talent. You can use tools like job boards, social media, and recruiters to find the best candidates, or you can take proactive steps such as creating an attractive company culture or offering

Many organizations are beginning to realize the importance of a sourcing talent strategy to secure the best talent in the marketplace. By leveraging innovative data solutions and talent acquisition platforms, going beyond traditional recruiting solutions provides organizations with the additional 'eye' and access to talent overlooked based on antiquated position profiles and criteria. This leads to looking at your workforce planning process. Are the job openings listed necessary? How are companies looking at what is needed to from talent to bring the desired end result? There has to be an understanding that some open jobs may be short-term fixes that need a different long-term view.

Companies are so short handed that they do not have the staff to train new people. As a corporate recruiter I can identify GREAT people with about 60-85% of the transferrable skills the managers are looking for; however, managers are so overworked that they are not available or feel that they cannot spare the time to train people on the skills they are lacking in! Even if someone is a 100% match there is still a "learning curve" for a new company...Take the time to train someone!

Many jobs still require local workers to get by. We've entered a time where remote work isn't only on the rise in popularity but also competitive financially as well. Remote jobs can offer equal or better pay, a more flexible home/life situation and match benefits with even the best local jobs. With the addition of inflation thing thins like food and gas, saving money not having to buy lunch and drive to work even become factors in decision making. In this environment, we have many workers who rightly clamor to find well compensated remote work, which can leave jobs with physical location demands at something of a disadvantage. Likely, we're going to need to see a lot of these physical location jobs up the ante as far as compensations and benefits in order to compete with remote work. Only time will tell how well this will work out. It will be on the companies sides to figure out what they need to attract people back to the office.

With a shortage of workers on the rise, there is not enough t staff to keep up with hiring demands or enough flexibility with regards to roles that meet the need of the job seekers. There is a sense of fear for some workers, in response to the recent pandemic. On the other side of the spectrum is the struggle to maintain balance at home with parental responsibilities and increasing cost for childcare, gas and food. This has led to a unprecedented rate in the rise of entrepreneurship. We need to invest more in the idea behind transparency in pay, cultural stewardship and increased investment in our current staff. Hr staff are at risk for burnout and there is an alarming rise in quiet resignations. Let’s go back to the basics of people first.

Looking at the numbers of jobs and available workers doesn’t tell the whole story in the current labor market. The issue is that many of the open jobs companies are struggling to fill require specific skill sets, and the development of those skill sets in job seekers has fallen far behind the need for them. This issue has gained the most attention in the tech sector, especially when it comes to candidates with cybersecurity experience, AI/ML knowledge, and other skills related to emerging technologies and increased virtualization, though other industries are experiencing a similar problem. When this happens, companies with the means to do so raise compensation to lure professionals away from their competition, but that just shifts the vacancy elsewhere. Until the supply of candidates with these in-demand skills increases, it will be a struggle to fill the positions that need them, even if those numbers were to reverse and there were 10 million candidates for 6 million openings.

There are many trades and fields in which there are big gaps in skilled individuals, both for technical jobs and trades. However, the employers expectations for entry level positions have also increased tremendously and some job seekers can not keep up with them. Graduates are expected to have years of experience in the field right out of college which can be somewhat unrealistic in most cases. Highly skilled individuals with no experience and those with the experience but not the certifications are many times not considered for open roles. The lack of talent is two fold with employers becoming too inflexible and jobseekers not being prepared for the expectations of the job market. My name is Liz Hogan and I am a career expert, job search strategist, CPRW and Digital Partnerships Manager at Find My Profession. Website: https://www.findmyprofession.com/ LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-hogan-/

Companies' irrational expectations of candidates, in my opinion, are one of their largest challenges. It is unjust and demotivating for potential candidates to ask a candidate with 10+ years of experience to accept positions paying less than $100,000 annually. It demonstrates two things: either not enough market research was conducted, or recruiting managers and CEOs did not give employees' career health top priority. Employees today are blatantly conscious of their values and won't settle for jobs or organizations that don't align with them.

70% companies admit that they are struggling to fill their open positions, but that's definitely not because there aren't enough people looking for work. From what I've seen, it's because a lot of teams are understaffed to the point that they don't have the bandwidth to train, coach, or mentor right now, and that means they have to find someone with experience. Companies are primarily looking for candidates that have already proven that they can do the job (ie: coded in the same languages or sold similar products), so they can come in and hit the ground running. The challenge with this is that people don't generally want to make a move for a job they've already been doing; they are looking for that next step in their career. It's a bit of a catch-22, really...

The people who used to do the role's you filled now expect more. Things like health benefits or remote options are no longer perks but assumed. "What else ya got?", what any skilled or experienced talent is thinking when they see your posting. So meet these new expectations or find a new audience who see your offers as a huge win. "Wow they're going to give me XYZ, when can I start!?" - the people your posting isn't finding... yet.

One reason it's hard to find talent is those who have talent don't want entry-level jobs or even secondary-level jobs. They want a great salary, flex time, lots of time off, wellness benefits, and a host of other things that often aren't reasonable for the jobs available. This is especially true of the younger generation who tend to value themselves, their knowledge, and their skills more highly than they should. Getting them to accept a job becomes complicated.

In an employer's market, people were grateful for having work and earning an income. This was a value instilled in Baby Boomers and many GenXers like me. The upcoming Millennials and Zoomers are much more intentional about the work that they do. Every generation tends to push back on the values that prior generations tried to instill in them. GenX parents pushed back on the parenting style and values of their parents. We instilled a new set of values into younger generations, and one of these is intentionality. Rather than a focus on income and being employed, the focus shifted to being more intentional about the things we do with our time. So, if you want to find new talent, put your company values front and center. You won't get all of the applicants, but you will get a subset who share your values, and they'll be more likely to accept a job offer.

Talent has always been hard to find. However, with the advent of social media, the playing field has been leveled, and everyone has a voice. That said, I believe that the biggest challenge when it comes to hiring talent is that the competition is fierce. After the great resignation, there are fewer candidates in the marketplace, leaving applicants with plenty of options. This means that employers need to work harder to stand out, offering a competitive salary and benefits package, as well as a fun, dynamic work environment. If you can’t offer what your competitors can, you won’t attract the best and brightest

The main reason for the talent shortage is candidates not getting opportunities. Nowadays, every other company includes so many requirements in their job description, creating difficulties for new candidates to get work. And due to a lack of job opportunities, their skill levels are decreasing day by day. Which is the main reason for the lack of talent. Further, in order to save talent from being wasted, companies now need to give opportunities to candidates without experience so that they can hone their skills and turn into talented team players.

Despite so many people looking for new jobs and so many companies looking to hire new employees, these goals don’t always match up. Applicants might not have the education, experience, or skills necessary for the pay level they’re looking for. With inflation rising, people might not be able to afford the pay they qualify for. Additionally, companies who are looking for employees might not be able to offer the ideal hours, benefits, and opportunities that people are looking for in a long term job. As long as people are qualified for a job, they should be more than happy to apply and accept a position; unfortunately, this isn’t always the case when people can afford to be picky. If everyone’s goals aren’t lining up, there’s going to be a gap in how job openings are being filled. Companies might have to be willing to offer higher pay or more benefits, or hire underqualified applicants and invest in their training.

Although the work-from-home culture experienced some growing pains in the early stages of the pandemic, for many employees who were already seeking the ideal work-life balance, remote work has proven to be a blessing in disguise. The remote work concepts are easily adaptable in several industries. On the contrary, there are also crucial industries that require personnel on-site at all times, such as manufacturing. This led to top talents to seek jobs offering flexible working hours and remote options. For the time being, it appears that there is only one method to get around this obstacle if they cannot offer remote working options, which would essentially involve businesses making full-time office job options more appealing by providing benefits like greater salary or mental healthcare.

In my opinion, the market isn't lacking talent, the talent is being pickier about their options, and rightly so. For too long, employers have taken a, "why should we hire you?" approach and now talent is asking, "why should I come work for your organization, what can you offer me?". Generally speaking, I find that employers aren't getting that. And many of the folks on the acquisition side don't know how to advise managers better on how to work through this issue, which for me means looking at non-traditional candidates for some of our roles and helping connect the dots for managers who too often can't think outside the box when hiring.

The reason for the lack of talent is that the workers are getting fewer opportunities for work — even some are not getting any opportunities. Because in many companies, aged employees are holding their positions tightly and not giving chances to new employees, which makes their abilities ineffective. And when they get an opportunity, there is no longer any game-changing spirit left in them. Therefore, for that solution, I recommend companies need to try contract base hiring, which will allow every candidate to get an opportunity and improve their skills.

After the pandemic, people now fear that if they quit their jobs, they won't be able to find another one. The employees have remained where they are, which is causing problems for companies that are looking for talented employees. To solve this problem companies are providing numerous facilities to the employees so that they can leave their first position and become part of them. And some people are still staying at home for fear that they can suffer from a virus when they go out for work. Companies are unable to bring such employees back to work, which is surely one of the main reasons for the talent shortage.

A vast group of people are unoccupied and are currently looking for a satisfactory job. Job commencements in every other leading company have provided an open door for an employee to revamp the current company they are operating for the other one. Companies lose their talented employees due to a lack of perception of their passions for other companies providing them with better preferences and workplaces. Just like employees prefer positive feedback from their customers, employees yearn for praise and recognition for their job done well. But if their superiors aren't inferring this conception and only expecting them to continue endeavors or work harder, they are pushing their talented employees into the arms of others.