More than one-half of U.S. employers cannot find right talent

Fifty-two per cent of United States employers are experiencing difficulty filling positions within their organizations, up from 14 per cent in 2010, according to a survey by ManpowerGroup.

The number of employers struggling to fill positions is at an all-time high since the first Talent Shortage Survey six years ago, despite an unemployment rate that has diminished only marginally during the last year.

The jobs that are most difficult to fill include skilled trades, sales representatives and engineers, found the survey of 1,300 employers.

The survey also highlights the most common reasons employers are having trouble filling jobs, including candidates looking for more pay than is offered, lack of technical skills and lack of experience.

"The fact that companies cite a lack of skills or experience as a reason for talent shortages should be a wake-up call for employers, academia, government and individuals," said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup president of the Americas. "It is imperative that these stakeholders work together to address the supply-and-demand imbalance in the labour market in a systematic, agile and sustainable way. There may also be an increasing imbalance between employers' willingness to pay higher salaries in what is still a soft general labour market compared to the salary expectations of prospective employees, especially those with skills that are in high demand."

The top 10 hardest jobs to fill in the U.S.:

1. Skilled trades
2. Sales representatives
3. Engineers
4. Drivers
5. Accounting and finance staff
6. Information technology staff
7. Management and executives
8. Teachers
9. Secretaries and administrative assistants
10. Machinists and machine operators