Demand for talent shoots up

The demand for talented professionals got fierce last year and majority of entrepreneurs across the world are expected to increase their staff this year as well. And, the demand is not coming just from high-growth areas but is more or less similar across geographies.

A recent report by Ernst & Young suggests that companies are hiring and that too aggressively. This welcome news comes despite the uncertain global economic environment and at a time of high levels of unemployment.

The new research from Ernst & Young, Global jobs creation, says that more than half of the 600 plus major entrepreneurs across the world surveyed expect to increase their work force in 2013. Surprisingly, the numbers show remarkable similarity around the world (Americas; Asia-Pacific; and Europe, Middle East, India and Africa).

“Nearly three quarters of the entrepreneurs, who are all former Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year winners and had a collective 18 per cent revenue growth rate in the past two years as well as employing over 304,000 people in 51 countries, reported they had raised headcount in 2012,” said the report.

“It’s fascinating to see this type of success across the board at a time when just about every leading global economic indicator reports modest or no growth,” said Maria Pinelli, Global Vice Chair, Strategic Growth Markets for Ernst & Young.

But, what exactly is driving up this demand, when profit margins may not be that healthy? E&Y report suggests that innovation is the key factor in driving up demand for professionals.

“Innovation plays an essential role in helping entrepreneurs create new jobs and beat the competition. Nearly 90 per cent of respondents across a wide numbers of industries agreed that innovation was the one genuine differentiator and advantage they have over the competition.”

“Clearly entrepreneurs are not taking a wait-and-see attitude to growing their businesses, but moving right ahead,” added Pinelli.

Forty-three percent of the respondents said that a passion for their product or service was the driving force behind their entry into a given market. Improving an existing product or service came second at
(36 per cent), while tapping into niche markets was third at 33 per cent.

Even though the companies are hiring, the right talent is hard to come by. The report findings reveal that entrepreneurs are in desperate need of attracting individuals with the right skills and talent to fill their needs. Specific skills in greatest demand are: industry knowledge (57 per cent), sales and marketing (25 per cent), and management/leadership (22 per cent). Interestingly, there is less interest in candidates with the narrow functional backgrounds such as engineering, finance, and human resources.

(Home page image courtesy Shutterstock)

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