Latest news with #laborShortage
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Talent Sustainability: 10 Leadership Moves To Build A Workforce That Lasts
The paradox of simultaneous labor shortages and widespread job seeker rejection underscores the ... More pressing need for leaders to reassess and refine their talent acquisition and sustainability strategies. Here are 10 first steps. Despite employer complaints of unfilled vacancies, millions of qualified candidates—especially recent college graduates and those over 50—struggle to land interviews, let alone offers. This paradox underscores the pressing need for leaders to reassess and refine their talent acquisition and sustainability strategies. 'The unemployment rate for college graduates ages 22 to 27 jumped to 5.3 percent in the past six months ending in May, up from 4.4 percent for the same period a year earlier,' according to a recent Washington Post analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. While college graduates in that age range typically have lower unemployment rates than workers without degrees, this advantage is smaller today than it has been in 30 years. For older workers who also face ageist assumptions when seeking employment, research has found that nearly half of recruiters believe that applicants are too old to consider for a job by age 57. The results of the survey demonstrate that 'millions of older people risk being overlooked for jobs because of entrenched ageism in recruitment, despite companies facing a significant shortage of skilled workers.' Moreover, two in five recruiters reported being pressured by their bosses to hire younger candidates, while nearly two-thirds of HR professionals admitted to making assumptions about candidates based on their age. The most successful leaders–and businesses–will be those focused on talent sustainability across the age spectrum. That requires rethinking how to source for talent and how they are evaluated. Talent Sustainability Blind Spots Companies today face two significant blind spots that hinder their ability to attract and retain top talent. Firstly, most talent strategies ignore the global demographic reality. Secondly, most workforce strategies focus disproportionately on the mythical age sweet spot for hires. Across the globe, countries report increased longevity, combined with decades-long declines in birth rates–a demographic duo that challenges every company's talent sustainability strategy. To offset the decreasing talent pipeline and knowledge drain, leaders must pivot policies, procedures and workplace culture to facilitate the new whole-life career model and benefit from the longevity advantage. 'In the last 100 years, the 65+ age group has grown five times faster than the rest of the population. What's even more surprising are projections that people aged 75+ will constitute the fastest-growing age band in the civilian workforce between now and 2030,' Stephanie Henkenius, principal at Mercer writes. Outdated recruiting strategies and age-based assumptions result in limited talent pools with candidates who are all within the same age range. This highlights the ageism timeline, depicting a mythical sweet spot that excludes talent on both sides of the age spectrum. Younger workers are excluded from workplace opportunities because they lack experience, completely discounting demonstrated potential to learn and adapt. Older workers are often denied opportunities due to age stereotypes and assumptions that overlook their experiences and career aspirations. The ageism timeline shows how age bias and stereotyping hurts talent sustainability at both ends of ... More the age spectrum. As the ageism timeline suggests, both younger and older candidates are often excluded from hiring, development and promotional opportunities. Younger workers eventually move into the mythical sweet spot but then hit the age where exclusion becomes long-lasting or indefinite. Workplace Strategy: What Leaders Can Do Now Talent sustainability is a key leadership strategy. Proactive leaders who understand and respond to these talent blind spots will come out ahead. Below are 10 first steps that leaders can take now to strengthen talent sustainability of all ages. Creating a strong talent sustainability strategy requires ongoing, proactive management. Leaders model the whole-life career model when practices and policies make it clear that employees are valued for their skills, abilities and potential– regardless of age or life stage.
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
The Golden Age for Employers Is Ending
For as long as most of us can remember, business has been able to call on a ready supply of foreign workers. The giants of Silicon Valley, farmers and food processors, hotels and restaurants, housebuilders and megastores: All have dealt with labor shortages by recruiting immigrants. One result has been an astonishing demographic transformation: 16% of the British population, 20% of the Swedish population, 19% of the German population and 14.3% of the US population were born abroad. This golden age for employers is coming to an end. Popular discontent with mass immigration is rising, anti-immigrant parties are flourishing and mainstream parties are finally taking note. In Britain, for example, 67% of people say that immigration is too high; the anti-immigrant Reform Party is well ahead in the polls. Donald Trump is not the only leader who is clamping down on immigration. Mark Carney, Canada's new prime minister, has imposed a cap on temporary foreign workers and international students. Britain's Keir Starmer has spoken about the danger of Britain turning into a 'nation of strangers.' If dealing with rising tariffs is the biggest challenge for companies abroad, dealing with tighter immigration controls is the biggest challenge at home.
CBS News
18-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
North Texas construction faces labor shortages, rising costs amid immigration crackdown, tariffs
They were already concerned about tariffs, but construction businesses in North Texas said they have new fears with the president's immigration crackdown. Alan Hoffmann, an executive board member with the Dallas Builders' Association, said the current immigration enforcement is causing at least a 30% labor shortage within the industry in the metroplex. Hoffman said not only are current policies impacting them, but tariffs on certain materials as well. "It's really in framing, concrete work, things like that, where those are harder labor jobs, and that's really where the shortage we're seeing is," said Hoffman. "If we're seeing higher costs for materials, higher costs for labor, that gets translated to the final price of the product. It's simple economics." Meaning those costs get pushed to the home buyer or client. Hoffman said many contractors are also concerned about their rights if U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement comes knocking on the door, which prompted the National Association of Home Builders to release guidance on how to handle these interactions. The 8-page pamphlet titled "When ICE Comes Calling" explains how an employer should prepare for a potential visit from ICE, what the law is, and how to respond to an administrative audit. "It's a very disruptive reality," Hoffman said. Martin Valko, an immigration attorney, said it's not just a concerning time for construction employers, but business owners across the board, everything from agriculture, hospitality and beyond. "They're seeking advice, and you know legal advice, on what steps to take, what are the rights, what are their responsibilities, what are the rights and responsibilities of their employees, of their contractors," Valko said. Valko said that currently, he receives two or three of these calls per day as immigration raids and arrests continue. He said while employment authorization and verification at a job site has always happened, he said it's never been this aggressive, but added that business owners should be prepared for anything. "Be ready. Reach out to an immigration attorney that specializes, that focuses on worksite enforcement, and I-9s, enforcement and compliance, so that they can have it ready, they can have a plan. They know who to call," said Valko.
NHK
18-06-2025
- Business
- NHK
Demonstration of remote-controlled mowers held in Miyagi Pref.
Farmers toiling in terraced fields in northeastern Japan have been introduced to new technology that can help reduce their workload. The farmers in Kurihara City, Miyagi Prefecture, were given a chance to closely watch remote-controlled grass trimmers in operation at a terraced rice field. A regional agricultural administration office held the demonstration on Monday as part of its efforts to help farmers in mountainous communities in the region. The aging of farmers coupled with labor shortages have become acute problems in these communities. About 80 farmers gathered at a terraced rice field to see how nine mowers, manufactured by five different makers, work. One of the mowers consists of a base unit and a mobile unit linked together with wires. The base unit was placed at the top of the slope, and the mobile unit cut grass steadily while traveling down the slope. It was then pulled up the slope again with the wires. A farmer in his 50s said such a machine will be helpful, as mowing has been done manually until now. Another farmer said mowing has been the biggest headache for aging farmers. He said introducing such machines may become essential in a bid to shift toward smart farming.
Forbes
17-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Many Immigrants In Germany, Facing Discrimination, Consider Leaving
Friedrichstrasse Shopping Street in central Berlin getty Many immigrants living in Germany are considering leaving the country for another, driven by economic concerns as well as discrimination, according to a new report from the country's federal research agency. With results showing that only just over half of immigrants intend to stay in Germany permanently, the report signals trouble for Europe's largest economy which is already struggling with historic labor shortages. The report, published by Germany's Institute for Employment Research, shows around 57% of people surveyed saying they intend to stay on in Germany, with around 26% stating they have considered leaving in the past year. The reasons people want to leave vary. Those who want to return to their countries of origin cited a desire to rejoin family, while people who are rather looking to settle elsewhere often cited economic opportunities, bureaucracy and tax burdens as reasons for wanting to leave Germany. Alongside these issues, the politics of immigration in Germany, as well as a high level of discrimination foreigners are subjected to, play a significant role. 'perceptions of discrimination – especially in interactions with authorities, police, and at the workplace – greatly increases emigration tendencies,' write the authors of the report. The report also notes that people who are more educated and economically successful, as well as those who show better success at integration, tend to be the ones more likely to be considering moving on. This means, according to the report's authors, that 'those most urgently needed to secure Germany's future labor supply are also those most inclined to leave.' Germany has long struggled with serious labor shortages, as older citizens age out of the workforce, with estimates of hundreds of thousands, even millions, of labor migrants needed to stabilize the market. Subsequent governments in Germany have attempted to ameliorate this by cutting red tape and giving out more work visas, but the tense politics over immigration - and in particular irregular migration - in Germany is complicating matters. The rise and electoral gains of the stridently anti-immigration AfD party have pushed migration to the top of the political agenda, with recently-elected center-right Chancellor Friedrich Merz coming in promising to clamp down on people seeking shelter in the country. While irregular migration (think asylum seekers and other people seeking protection) and labor migration are two different matters, they have become progressively more linked in the German discourse, particularly by the AfD. In the run-up to state elections last year, various prominent business leaders spoke out against the AfD, warning that their harsh rhetoric over immigration overall, including taking aim at workplace diversity initiatives, threatened to dissuade prospective labor migrants from moving to the regions in Germany where they are needed most. This latest report adds further weight to those concerns, with discrimination apparently playing a significant role in foreign residents' calculations. The report recommends the government implement measures to, among other things, ease bureaucracy, support family integration and address workplace discrimination. 'Only when immigrants feel like fully included members of society," write the authors, "with real opportunities for participation and professional advancement – are they likely to choose Germany as their long-term home.'
