Nearly a third, or 29%, of employers in the UK say their direct competitors are beating them in the race for top talent, according to a survey of HR professionals and jobseekers by background screening and identity services firm Sterling.

The data found that half of employers are not able to find enough qualified candidates for the roles they have.

The study also revealed that a significant proportion of employers are losing out to the competition due to slow hiring processes. Of the jobseekers surveyed, 71% said that they had either dropped out or considered dropping out of their most recent recruitment experience. The top three reasons cited for this were: the process was taking too long, it was too complicated or there were too many touchpoints (all the interactions candidates have with the employer during the recruitment process).

Sterling’s study comes after Office of National Statistics’ data showed that despite six consecutive quarterly falls, the number of vacancies remains at historically high levels at 1,161,000.

Steve Smith, President International at Sterling, said, “While 2022 was a year of record-breaking vacancy numbers across the UK, the war for talent is still raging on. The UK still has a low level of unemployment despite the increase noted at the end of last year and skills shortages are being reported across a range of sectors and disciplines. In this environment, employers continue to report difficulties with recruiting the right people. But our data suggests that this issue is being exacerbated by lengthy and complex hiring processes.”