Over 37,000 employers in 42 countries and territories participated in ManpowerGroup’s ninth annual Talent Shortage Survey. Just over a third (36%) of employers report difficulty filling jobs – the highest proportion since 2007.

The country with the greatest difficulty filling jobs is Japan, with 81% of employers struggling to recruit. In contrast, Irish employers reported the least difficulty filling jobs with only 2% of employers struggling to recruit staff. 

The regions with the least difficulty sourcing suitably skilled staff are Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). In contrast, across the Americas nearly half of employers struggle to fill vacancies.

Year-on-year increases in difficulty recruiting staff were reported across the globe (up from an average of 35% in 2013 to 36% in 2014), in EMEA (up from 26% in 2013 to 27% in 2014), and in the Americas (up from 39% in 2013 to 48% in 2014). In Asia-Pacific, however, employers reported an improvement in their ability to fill jobs, down from 51% in 2013 to 45% in 2014.  

Across the globe, the top 10 jobs employers have difficulty filling are:

Broken down by geographical region, the hardest to fill jobs are:

To access the full report, click here.