Around 78% of businesses are currently understaffed, confirmed a survey of EMEA leaders carried out by WorkJam, the digital platform for organisations with shift/hourly employees.
Approximately half of those surveyed (46%) also admitted to having been understaffed for 5-6 months, and a further 36% being understaffed for 3-4 months. The research, which surveyed CxOs, Directors and VPs in industries including retail, manufacturing, consumer goods, transporting and warehousing, found that a worrying 48% have lost customers due to the effect of staff shortages.
The staff shortages don’t just equate to one of two team members. For 30% of businesses, the losses have amounted to 16-20% of their workforce in the last 12 months. While an additional 26% lost 11-15% of their staff in the same period. This is seriously impacting their day-to-day performance, and putting additional strain on the employees left behind.
HIRING & EMPLOYEE RETENTION CHALLENGES
This isn’t just a recent phenomenon, confirmed the survey. WorkJam also discovered that for the majority (64%) of businesses, churn levels have stayed the same (33%) or are somewhat higher (31%) than in the previous 12 months, and there is little expectation of imminent improvement. Around 53% of those surveyed expected hiring issues to stay the same over the next 12 months, and 50% expected retention issues to remain unchanged.
The most commonly cited reason for leaving among employees is that their hours are too long or there wasn’t enough flexibility in their position. This was the case for a quarter of business leaders. Other reasons given for employee churn included: diversity and inclusion issues (16%), dissatisfaction with salary (14%), and dissatisfaction with benefits (10%). More than half (51%) of all executives surveyed are seeking to solve retention and hiring issues through the provision of better employee perks or benefits. While 30% are investing in HR technology or frontline technology, 27% are investing in learning and development.
GLOBAL RECRUITMENT CRISIS
“We’re in the midst of a global recruitment crisis,” stated Mark Williams, Managing Director EMEA of WorkJam. “While it’s no secret that key sectors have been struggling to find and retain talent since the start of the pandemic – if not before – the figures revealed by our survey really put the problem into context. And the difficulty is that the issue is self-sustaining. Churn puts additional pressure on existing employees, increasing the likelihood that they, in turn, will seek employment elsewhere, again heaping pressure on those left behind.”
Executives are faced with “finding solutions that will aid retention and recruitment without necessitating a price hike in the middle of the cost-of-living crisis,” added Williams. “According to our research, a quarter of businesses have already had to raise their prices. But this carries the risk of further deterring customers. It’s a difficult balance to strike.”
Around one-third of workers are planning to quit their jobs and actively looking for a new job, despite signs of a recession, revealed a new survey. Click here to read more.
Did you know that Black professionals in tech have to switch jobs more frequently than non-Black peers to seek career growth and progression. Click here to find out more.
Sign up for our newsletter
