Is there a Global Labour Shortage?

If there is a global shortage of appropriately skilled workers, what is the situation in Canada and then in Alberta?

"The world stands on the brink of a global employability crisis, i.e. an oversupply of available workers and an undersupply of qualified talent" reports ManpowerGroup in its 2011 Talent Shortage Survey of nearly 40,000 employers across 39 countries. One in three employers globally (34%) report experiencing difficulty filling positions due to the lack of available talent, in Canada the number is 29%, up from 21% in 2010. Alberta Human Services Department forecasts that Alberta will be short 114,000 workers in the next nine years.

The Department reports the following challenges that are contributing to Alberta’s persistent labour shortages.

1. The aging of our workforce with high numbers baby boomers retiring in the next 5 years
2. Ongoing increases in the knowledge and skills required to fill existing jobs and new jobs that are created
3. The potential for rapid changes to the labour market (inter-Provincial migration, recruitment of Alberta’s workers by other growing economies, like Australia and New Zealand) and fluctuating immigration numbers

The ManpowerGlobal reports can be found at these links

http://www.manpowergroup.com/humanage/index.html

http://www.manpowergroup.com/humanage/wefanthology2011.pdf

For Calgary and area quarterly and Annual Labour Market reports, go to:

http://employment.alberta.ca/CES/2395.html