Is There A Talent Shortage? :Talking with HR Professionals

In a recent survey we asked senior HR professionals the following regarding talent shortage:

“Of the last hundred individuals that you’ve decided to interview, based upon their resumes, you brought them in. Of those hundred individuals that you’ve decided NOT to hire because you just didn’t feel they were qualified…

If they had just done a better job of promoting themselves or had been more energetic ..more enthusiastic…

what percentage of those individuals might you have actually chosen to hire?”

Surprisingly the answer to that was over 50%!

So the question that we posed to those individuals, ” is there really a talent shortage, as is discussed so frequently, or is there possibly a bigger chasm in the skillset of professionals on how to sell and promote themselves?”

Companies’ expectations have gone up dramatically in the last 10 or 20 years due to cost reductions. Headcounts have been cut to a level where most professionals or most hiring managers feel they have one shot to hire the perfect person. So, of course, their expectation on what they’re looking for needs to go up. 

When of course, you can’t really know that you’re hiring the perfect person, because you’re trying to assess risk. But, we would argue that the skill set and expertise of professionals to sell and promote themselves has not grown at a similar rate. Therefore, it feels like there is a bigger chasm in the level of talent that’s available. 

What do you think ? Comment below and let us know your thoughts. Or, if you want to learn more on how Pedagog can help you close the talent shortage gap, click here.