In Panama four out of ten companies failed to find the ideal candidates when they needed them.
Data from Manpower reveals that worldwide the talent shortage is around 40%, in Colombia it is 50% and in Panama 36%.Monica Flores, president of the group for the region, said that"...
Rigid working structures remains an obstacle to be overcome by women, even though new technologies have made working conditions more flexible in the world.
According to Sonia Vanegas, country manager of Manpower, at a global level, for several years many companies have started to promote policies that are friendly to women's performance. "Many women still fail to establish the balance between personal and professional life due to, among other things, rigid schedules that keep them stuck in the office," says Vanegas.
Information technologies encourage flexible employment schemes which improve quality of life for workers and boost productivity for organizations.
An analysis by Sonia Vanegas, Director of the Business Unit at Manpower Group Nicaragua, in Laprensa.com.ni, outlines that as "the industrial era transformed traditional ways of working, pulling people from their workshops to concentrate in factories and hold them to certain structured work schedules so today the Human Age, supported by information technology, is doing the same by encouraging flexible employment schemes that improve quality of life for employees and productivity for organizations. "
Cultural diversity enhances the productivity of enterprises, especially in innovation and problem solving, because it encourages lateral thinking.
Cultural diversity is not a source of conflict, but rather should be seen as an extraordinary source of opportunities for any productive organization. "Today, in order to survive and be successful, organizations must deliver results on time and at minimal cost, directing their efforts toward the needs and demands of customers, both local and external. Achieving this involves promoting the use of flexible technologies, operational schemes using teamwork and workers who perform multiple functions.
There are plenty of applicants for the posts, but there are few who are really qualified to meet the demands of each job.
A study entitled 'Lack of Talent 2011' by the firm Manpower Group shows that 30% of companies in Costa Rica say they have trouble finding certain types of staff such as technicians, salesmen and secretaries with the required skills.
More and more recruiters are looking for managers capable of reading other's emotions.
When conducting job interviews, recruiters now assess how people react in interviews, their personality traits and how they manage adverse situations.
Emotional intelligence, a very popular term in the HR department, is weighing more than ever when hiring professionals that will manage other employees.
Salvadoran firms require skilled labor, engineers and bilingual accounting professionals.
Marco Penado, general manager of Manpower El Salvador, said that human resources in need by businesses do not match with what the universities are producing.
Within the 10 most requested jobs there are:
- Skilled labor (carpenters, welders, electricians)
- Sales Agents
Women participation in managerial positions has increased considerably, although there are discrimination barriers left.
A 2008 report by OECD explains that there is still a big gender gap in corporate management positions. However, this gap keeps getting smaller.
Women going up in the corporate ladder can be explained by economic and cultural changes, analyzed by Guadalupe Hernández in her article in Elsalvador.com.
48% of employers cannot meet their skilled labor needs, said a Manpower survey.
According to the survey, Peru (56%), Costa Rica (48%) and Mexico (44%), are the countries where employers find it hardest to meet skilled jobs needs, whereas employers in the U.S. (19%), Guatemala (20%) and Canada (24%) reported the least problems.
"12.300 employers from the continent participated in the study, and they indicated that the most difficult positions to hire for are technicians, production operators and accounting and finance personnel", published newspaper La Prensa Libre.