Did you know it takes, on average, 43 days for employers to hire a candidate for a vacant position? That’s 43 days where various functions and tasks in that infrastructure role aren’t being executed or completed, causing potential delays, or missed work. And 43 days where the rest of the team may be picking up the slack, running the risk of burning out current employees.
There are several factors that are causing your team to fall short on infrastructure talent. And you’re not alone. While having infrastructure jobs are one part of the equation, without talent to fill them, the focus on having vacancies is moot.
Read below, and you’ll learn several reasons your hiring process for infrastructure talent might be hampered:
1. Talent is in Short Supply
What happens when all industries are in desperate need for talent, and the unemployment rate plummets? Those seeking out reliable candidates find themselves on an arduous journey, mining for diamonds in the rough, so to speak.
Recently, due to COVID, the U.S. unemployment rate has risen to 7.9%, which is a far cry from 2017’s impressively low numbers. All the same, 92.1% of the population is still gainfully employed. Of that 7.9%, one can assume an incredibly small number are skilled infrastructure talent that can positively impact your business.
Finding those unique talents is getting harder by the day, especially when trying to balance it with the other moving parts involved in your bustling organization.
2. Gaps in Skill
The Society of Human Resource Management survey outlined the following results of the current talent landscape:
- According to 38% of respondents, a continual obstacle preventing them from recruiting qualified workers is an absence of technical skills among applicants.
- 59% of respondents said that lacking basic skills (e.g., reading comprehension and computer skills) was also a direct obstacle.
- Lastly, insufficient applied skills (e.g., critical thinking, leadership) presented massive problems for 84% of the respondents.
Provided you aren’t intent on settling for unskilled employees, it’s going to take a while to find reliable, knowledgeable, and productive infrastructure talent.
3. The Loss of Baby Boomers
Millennials now make up the bulk of the workforce, with 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day.
The few boomers remaining are generally the talent with the most experience and working knowledge. As they exit the workforce, organizations are left without the wisdom they’ve grown accustomed to. And, usually, without a workforce to replace them at all.
Realistically, millennials haven’t amassed the experience and associated lessons to equal their predecessors’ skills and qualifications. In fact, millennials aren’t even interested in or gaining the training they need to be in a trade. This situation makes it even more challenging to find the right people for specific roles.
Experience less stress and more productivity by partnering with a staffing service to help fill your infrastructure talent pipeline. Connect with the award-winning staffing team at NSC for all your workforce needs.
