In response to the current UK skills shortage, more and more companies are mixing up their candidate sourcing strategies to help fill skills gaps within their businesses.

With over 33% of employers surveyed as part of a study into the current UK labour market citing apprentices as a way for them to grow their workforces, this will give rise to more routes into employment for school leavers and hopefully a multitude of apprenticeships in different areas of businesses will be on offer to attract newcomers to the workforce.

Although offering apprenticeships is a low cost way of nurturing an employee to fit your exact skills requirements, apprenticeships require an ongoing and long-term commitment from both parties and a high degree of in-house training and supervision, especially in the first year.

Upskilling existing staff is proving to be a popular way of dealing with the current skills shortage, with 50% of the 931 employers surveyed stating that they will be implementing training initiatives to broaden the skills of their current workforce. This seems like a perfect candidate sourcing solution to many companies that are struggling to find the additional resources to cope with increasing workloads, however care must be taken to ensure that existing staff are not stretched beyond capacity as the additional pressure may lead to staff absence due to stress or the employee leaving for a less taxing role.

Other interesting statistics from the report show the various tactics companies are using to combat the current skills shortage:

• 25% of employers are seeking to hire graduates
• 16% will increase salaries to help retain existing employees
• 12% wish to employ school leavers to train on the job
• 15% are seeking to retain older workers

This shows a real mix of strategies are being implemented to help companies as they strive for growth and such tactics will lead to a dynamic mix of skills, knowledge and new enthusiasm being injected into the many businesses that plan ahead for future success.

For further information, contact us for a free, no obligation consultation on the most suitable employee sourcing strategy for your business on 01782 338787 or email emma@appointmentspersonnel.co.uk