With the UK lagging behind when it comes to adaptability in the employment sphere, British firms are losing out on talented workers – and this is costing them.
New research conducted by PwC and commissioned by professional social networking site LinkedIn has discovered there’s a massive yawning gulf that British businesses are pouring their money into. Productivity losses of something like £940 million were uncovered based upon the fact that companies have to spend extra cash in recruitment and training efforts.
In other words, British businesses seem to be taking on anyone that comes their way instead of just picking and choosing the best of the best when it comes for a specific position. Industry experts believe that the pressures of the skills shortage may be behind this proclivity, as a certain amount of fear and apprehension in not being able to hire on the additional workers a given business needs can see that business lowering its standards in order to put warm bodies in empty seats whether or not they’re fit for the job.
Honestly I can understand this, but for what it’s worth it’s a terribly self-destructive move on the part of British business owners. What many companies have done instead of course is to make use of the nation’s talented cadre of freelancers and umbrella company contractors in the interim whilst they look for a permanent worker that can meet their skill requirements, but the number of companies that are actually doing this are rather few and far between. I suppose it’s hard to have foresight when you’re worrying about the immediate longevity of your business.
Of course sometimes you won’t be able to find a suitable contract worker to fill the gap for a particular position, and many companies may find themselves in just this predicament. Unfortunately I see this becoming more prevalent as the skills shortage lasts and an increasing number of freelancers end up tied down to other projects, leaving companies no choice but to invest in their new permanent hires by training them into the position. This is of course a rather costly endeavour but there really aren’t any alternatives to think of. Hopefully a Government solution will be fostered that offers businesses an incentive to expand their on-the-job training programmes. Wouldn’t that be nice?
