Research reveals the sectors likely to fill just 1 in 10 roles in demand shortfall
According to a new report, the insurance, eCommerce and transport industries are being hit the hardest by skill shortages, with some facing the prospect of just 2% of the currently vacant roles being filled.
Business management software specialists, ECI, has compiled The Skills Shortages Reportwhich reveals that the insurance industry is facing the biggest challenge of finding highly-skilled people to fill the currently open roles in this sector.
To find out which sectors are facing the worst shortages, ECI Software Solutions looked at 20 industries across the UK and identified five different job positions for each. LinkedIn revealed how many jobs were available for those positions and were able to compare to the number of people currently searching on Google for those roles.
In the insurance sector, there’s a risk of just one in 100 jobs being filled, with just 570 searches a month for the likes of risk surveyor, insurance sales representative and insurance brokers, despite 46,758 jobs on offer.
This is followed closely behind by eCommerce which ranks second place as the data reveals that there’s a chance of only 2 in 100 jobs being taken off the market. Similarly, the transport industry has slightly higher odds of 1 in 25 roles being filled but still not enough to close the gap.
The ten industries facing the biggest shortage of employees are:
| Rank | Industry | Number of job roles available on LinkedIn | Number of people searching for jobs | % of likelihood to be filled |
| 1 | Insurance | 46,578 | 570 | 1.22% |
| 2 | Ecommerce | 35,800 | 620 | 1.73% |
| 3 | Transport | 54,996 | 2,410 | 4.38% |
| 4 | Retail | 56,067 | 2630 | 4.69% |
| 5 | Tech | 118,211 | 6,800 | 5.75% |
| 6 | Consultancy | 40,163 | 2,560 | 6.37% |
| 7 | Construction | 34,478 | 2,870 | 8.32% |
| 8 | Wholesale | 54,920 | 5,400 | 9.83% |
| 9 | Finance | 62,294 | 6,610 | 10.61% |
| 10 | Engineering | 64,580 | 7,180 | 11.12% |
Commenting on the research, Chris Fisher – LBMH Operations Director, EMEA at ECI Software Solutions, said:
“Workplaces have significantly evolved and digitalised over recent years and with the introduction of technology into everyday processes, the skills required to undertake certain roles have drastically changed. This situation is creating both opportunities and challenges for business leaders looking to fill vacant positions, with many also having to evaluate how they are marketing themselves as an organisation.
“That being said, there are still plenty of opportunities to train and up-skill existing staff or potentially offer apprenticeships to entice new recruits. It’s clear that some industries may be falling behind in terms of appealing to the right candidates and making a career in the field look appealing. Combatting this starts at a grassroots level – encouraging students to explore the opportunities in these sectors, but also highlighting how most skills are transferable.”
For more information about this research, visit: https://www.ecisolutions.com/en-gb/blog/the-skills-shortages-report-which-industries-are-struggling-to-bridge-the-gap/
Methodology
ECI Software Solutions used data from LinkedIn to discover the number of vacancies for 5 different roles across the top 20 industries in the UK.
ECI Software Solutions then compared this with data from Google Keyword Planner to discover how many people in each city were searching for sector-specific jobs on average within the last year.
Data is correct as of March 2023.
Responses