The Latest Labor Shortage Trends & Statistics (2024) (2024)

With labor shortages on the rise, employers are understandably concerned.

Yet some industries are suffering more than others.

Below, we’ll dive into the latest data surrounding global labor shortages and other relevant statistics:

Contents

• Top Labor Shortage Statistics 2024 (Editor’s Picks)
• Current Labor Shortage Stats
• US Labor Shortage Rates
• Labor Shortage Rates By Country
• Global Labor Shortage Stats
• US Labor Shortage Stats
• UK Labor Shortage Stats
• European Labor Shortage Stats

Top Labor Shortage Statistics 2024 (Editor’s Picks)

• 75% of employers are not able to fill job vacancies
• The US has a labor shortage of 70%
• The US has a labor force participation of 62.7%
• The Netherlands has 194 occupations with labor shortages, the most in Europe
• Welders and flame cutters are the most in-demand professionals in Europe (21 countries)

Current Labor Shortage Stats

According to ManpowerGroup, three-quarters (75%) of employers are struggling to fill job vacancies – that’s the second-highest figure on record since surveys began in 2006, although it’s down from 2023 (77%)

In fact, the number of employers reporting labor shortages has almost doubled since 2015 (38%).

Here’s a look at global labor shortage figures over the last decade:

Source: ManpowerGroup

US Labor Shortage Rates

In the US, talent scarcity is on the rise.

As of 2024, US labor shortage currently sits at 70%, five percentage points below the global average.

That means that 7 in 10 employers are unable to find suitable employees for their job vacancies.

Source: ManpowerGroup

Labor Shortage Rates By Country

Japan has the highest recorded labor shortage rate at 85%. That’s 10% higher than the global average.

On the other end of the scale, Finland has a labor shortage rate of 59% - 16% lower than the worldwide rate.

Here’s a breakdown of labor shortages for selected countries across the world:

By 2030, it is predicted that there will be a global talent shortage of around 85 million people, resulting in revenue losses of approximately $8.5 trillion.

Source: Korn Ferry

Global Labor Shortage Stats

As of Q1 2024, ‘salesperson’ is the most in-demand profession on LinkedIn.

Sales managers have seen demand jump the most, up 19 places in the list of roles with the highest number of advertised vacancies.

Here are the 10 most in-demand jobs, along with change from the previous quarter:

In terms of soft skills, collaboration and teamwork are the most sought-after.

These are the most in-demand soft skills right now:

As a means to address the skills gap, employers are more willing than ever to invest in their existing talent.

The most common approach to bridging the skills gap is upskilling and reskilling the current workforce (71%).

Here are the ways in which employers are combatting the skills gap:

Over half (57%) of employers are now offering more flexibility at work when it comes to where (location, hybrid, remote) and when (part-time, flexible hours).

Increasing wages - especially within the IT industry (37%) - is the second-most common approach (33%). This is alongside looking at new talent pools (mature workers, etc.), which is also being explored by 33% of employers.

Here’s a breakdown of how organizations are overcoming talent shortages:

Source: ManpowerGroup, LinkedIn

US Labor Shortage Stats

The US has lost as many as 1.4 million workers from the labor force since February 2020.

As of April 2024, the US has a labor force participation of 62.7%.

Here’s how that figure compares to the top 10 countries for labor force participation:

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Trading Economics

UK Labor Shortage Stats

In recent times, the number of UK businesses experiencing a labor force shortage has remained between 11.5% and 15.7%.

Vacancies fell by 43,000 quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2024, to 908,000.

Here’s a breakdown of the figures according to the UK Office for National Statistics:

Across all industries, 11.5% of businesses are experiencing a labor shortage in the UK.

Accommodation and food service companies are the worst affected. Over 1 in 4 (25.3%) of them are short on workers.

Here’s a breakdown of UK labor shortage by industry:

As of April 2024, the Immigration Salary List replaced the Shortage Occupation List in the UK.

It contains a list of sectors considered sufficiently in-demand to drop minimum salary requirements for those making visa applications.

Bricklayers and care workers are among the professions with the greatest reduction in salary requirements, indicating the greatest scarcity in the UK.

Source: ONS, ONS (2), ONS (3), GOV.UK

European Labor Shortage Stats

Labor shortages across Europe vary considerably from country to country.

The Netherlands has a total of 194 occupations with labor shortages, marginally more than second-placed Norway (193).

At the other end of the scale, Czechia has just 8 occupations experiencing a labor shortage.

Source: Analysis of data submitted by EURES National Coordination Offices

Here’s a list of 29 European nations ranked by number of occupations experiencing labor shortages:

Welders and flame cutters are experiencing labor shortages in more European countries than any other sector (21).

In total, 71% of surveyed countries reported a shortage of plumbers and pipe fitters. This was closely followed by heavy truck and lorry drivers (68%) and specialist medical practitioners (64%).

Here’s a list of shortage occupations and the degree of severity in Europe (2024):

And here’s how a number of the same occupations ranked in previous years:

Despite nearing a 50/50 split in the job market, female employees are more prone to periods of unemployment. This is thanks to a disproportionate split in widespread shortage occupations and surplus occupations.

Here are the figures for the gender split in EU27 countries:

Around 17% of the EU27 workforce is made up of under 30s. That equates to over 32 million employees.

The 15-to-29-year-old age bracket is slightly overrepresented in widespread surplus occupations (20%).

Here’s a breakdown of EU27 employment stats split by age bracket:

Source: EURES, EURES (2)

Conclusion

Labor shortages are an important consideration no matter where your business is based.

For more work-related data, take a look at Fascinating Remote Work Statistics, Freelance Statistics, Trends and Insights, and New Outsourcing Statistics.