addressing the issue

autumn 22 addressing the issue the employment crisis

Britain is currently going through an employment crisis, with more vacancies than people willing to fill them. We spoke to Entrepreneurs' Forum members to find out if the country’s labour shortage is affecting them and what they’re doing to combat it.

According to the Financial Times, the UK’s shrinking workforce is the most urgent problem currently facing our country’s economy. In June 2022, there were approximately 1.3 million job vacancies in Britain, and currently there are not enough people looking for work to fill those positions. It’s been said that this is an issue the hospitality industry is getting hit the hardest by, but in reality it’s an issue that’s impacting employers across many different sectors. There are a number of different factors playing that have resulted in the crisis, the most obvious two Brendon Hayward (OSBIT)

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being Brexit and Covid. Since Brexit, approximately 200,000 EU citizens have left the UK and following COVID almost 450,000 have simply decided to leave the workforce all together. The amount of people in our country now “economically inactive”, neither in work or looking for work, has spiked sharply since the pandemic. However, before you wag your finger at the so-called snowflake generation, it might surprise you to know that this inactive group is made up mostly of people over 50. In February this year, when the ONS surveyed a number of those that had recently left work, almost half said they’d left their jobs of their own volition. Surprisingly, only two-fifths said they’d consider going back to work. So, what are the Forum members saying about this issue? We reached out to members with a variety of survey questions regarding employment, recruitment and vacancies. From a healthy 101 responses, approximately a third of the Forum’s membership, we ended up with some really interesting statistics that give a real insight into the current landscape of employment in our region. Thankfully, it’s not all doom and gloom either! However, the reality is that most of the respondents are facing the same struggle to fill vacancies as the rest of the country. 72% of respondents said recruitment is now harder than pre-pandemic, with 25% reporting no change and only 3% reporting that recruitment is now easier. On the other hand, in terms of vacancies, 78% of those surveyed have current unfilled job vacancies. 19 businesses reported having more than 10 existing vacancies, and 4 businesses reported over 50 open positions. In total, members reported 872 vacancies as at the end of June. Interestingly, no sector clearly stands out as having more vacancies than another. The businesses reporting ten or more vacancies included sectors such as IT, hospitality, engineering and retail. Despite the perceived lack of labour, it’s encouraging to see that Forum members have a lot of confidence and hope for the future, with many of them planning on creating a huge number of new jobs over the next 12 months. Across the 101 responses, there’s expected to be 1,751 jobs created in the next 12 months. 9% of respondents expect to create 50 or more jobs, 28% expect to create ten or more, and 61% expect to create five jobs or less. Regardless of their current vacancy situation, it was clear from the responses that virtually all of these members are taking steps to attract more potential employees. A common change being made by businesses is the introduction or continuation of ‘flexible’ working. However, this seems to be a new norm rather than something that makes businesses stand out to applicants. 40% of respondents said they had increased their pay and benefits packages to incentivise applicants, whilst 25% said they had turned to external agencies, including specialist recruiters. The majority of respondents said they had turned their focus to improving their brand as an employer. Steps businesses are taking include concerted efforts to improve their presence on social media, setting up employee wellbeing frameworks, investing in staff development and refining their “pitch” to potential employees. Entrepreneurs’ Forum Board member, BrenBrendon Hayward, Joint Managing Director of OSBIT and Entrepreneurs’ Forum board member, believes innovative companies have the opportunity to shine in the changing employment market. He said, “The changes in the labour market are the most exciting transition ever. People now seek a clearer purpose, evidence of a competent management team and vision, an authentic culture, clear development opportunities, coaching, remunerative development, ESG credentials and the list goes on. “The power balance which many business leaders may have viewed through a relatively static lens has truly been upended. The most innovative companies will evolve and capitalise on this, companies who do not recognise their labour market lens is obsolete will find it extremely difficult.”