Talent shortage - is the hair already on fire?

Many of you will have noticed that besides banking and entrepreneurship, I am curious and passionate about topics around the future of work. And today, I want to talk about talent shortage. A topic that is currently on top on the agenda of many entrepreneurs and business leaders.

And in fact: it has really become hard to hire good talent and I think it is only gonna get harder. Even a recession and companies considering laying off people is not expected to bring much relief to the war for talent. Demographics play an important role here. Major economies are expected to be reducing in size of population. And of course, there will be people living and working longer, but there is fewer of them entering the workforce. Besides talent shortage - or the mere lack of available employees.

There is even bigger problem: a skills shortage. Many businesses are being disrupted or transformed. And their leaders and workforces are struggling to adapt. To becoming an industry that they weren’t in the past. Think automotive getting into electric, telecommunications into media, utilities into renewables, financials into technology, retail into healthcare, the list goes on.

So, companies will need different skills in the future than in the past. Recruiting might bring some relief, but just won’t fix it. Companies will need to develop their existing workforce. And make better use of their existing talent and retain talent. Empowering them to develop, learn and take over new responsibilities will be key in the future. Reskilling and talent development will be critical for future growth.

“Companies have to stay ahead of the curve. Or others will”

So many CEOs actually might already have their hair on fire today. But many of them have not yet realised it. I think the time for business leaders to act is now. To build future fit organisations. To become more agile and innovative. To unlock the potential of the entire workforce.

 Finding answers to these challenges. This is Lukas’ and my quest. So stay tuned for more content and learnings as we go.