Millions of Baby Boomers will be retiring

Currently, there are five generations in the work force. A selected few Traditionals are still hanging in there, while Generation Z are just being introduced to routines and coffee breaks. A few years down the line, Baby Boomers will retire, leaving the job market with a shortage of qualified candidates and higher hiring costs.

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Alarming statistics

Eventually as the Baby Boomers retire from an active work life, there will be a gap between vacancies and qualified candidates. Experts estimate that it will be between 3 and 10 million more positions than people by 2020. ”These are alarming statistics, and we are already experiencing shortages within certain disciplines” says Trond Larsen, Managing Director Talent Gallery – Scandinavian Search Group.  The consequence of the candidate shortage will be:

  1. The time you will spend on hiring critical positions can increase from 1 month to 6 months, a year or more.
  2. The companies lowers their candidate requirements to get positions filled.
  3. The salary levels increase. What is high income for certain disciplines today will be medium level the coming years.
  4. Expertise shortage will be widespread.

In addition to the cost of higher salaries, one must also take into consideration the cost of a bad hire and the opportunity cost that arises from time spent on recruiting instead of generating revenue.

Companies are not doomed

More than half of the abovementioned costs can be eliminated by investing in third party recruitment services, such as hiring agencies and headhunters. In a market where demand exceeds supply, it is unlikely to find the best candidates in a database. Furthermore, they are probably already in a well paid job and will not respond to adverts. The only way to reach these candidates is through direct contact – headhunting.

Talent Gallery – Scandinavian Search Group offers flexible search and headhunting solutions, working both local and international through the NPAworldwide network of offices and selected partners.