Figures produced by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development have shown that the UK is facing a potentially serious skills shortage over the next 10 years.
Economic forecasts have estimated some 13.5million new jobs will be created over the next decade, but only 7 million school and higher education leavers will be on hand to take up the newly created roles.
However, could this dilemma actually provide opportunity for Britain’s more experienced workforce? With people now willing and able to work for longer, there exists a large cache of ‘veteran’ talent available to expanding firms across many industry sectors.
Government figures suggest some 36% of the UK’s workforce will be aged over 50 by the year 2020, and it seems perfectly plausible that more experienced professionals will become more abundant as the economy continues its slow return to growth, and the skills shortage forecast to occur becomes a cold reality.
Jon Yew from PayMatters, a company that specialises in helping contractors manage tax compliance and payroll issues, believes that firms will turn to experienced workers to slot in and plug employment gaps: “Any news that suggests job growth will continue is of course welcome; the caveat must be, however, that the economy remains in a fragile situation, and whilst some sectors are clearly recovering – we have seen that for a sixth quarter in a row manufacturers are discussing jobs growth – the knock-on effects of the recession is a reluctance to over-invest in permanent staff. That attitude persists, and doesn’t address the subsequent skills shortage plaguing employers.”
“So contractors could well find themselves in a cracking position to benefit. Employers looking to bring in new hires constantly face the challenge of finding the right talent. By turning to experienced contractors who have the experience, flexibility and know-how to fit seamlessly into an organisation, bringing more immediate value than new permanent starters, companies can fill skill gaps and ramp up their productivity on a consistent basis.
PayMatters are APSCo accredited, professional passport approved and are business partners with the Institute Of Recruiters (IOR). PayMatters pride themselves on being fully HMRC compliant from an employers and employees NI, PAYE and expense perspective. For further information please contact Jon Yew, Senior Business Development Manager on 07818 554041.
