Is it a Skills Gap or Pay Gap?

My husband and I were recently discussing the skills gap issue that seems be the latest excuse for recruiting failures.

He mentioned reading one article after another that complained of a mythic skills gap, with no one providing any specifics! I agree! We never hear about concrete details, it’s all vague hand-waving without any investigative journalism to question the basic premise and drill down into meaningful answers. We’re not saying that the gap doesn’t exist, as it almost certainly does for certain industries.

What are these companies complaining about skills gap doing about it?  Are they willing to provide on the job training, or are they just going to keep their positions open and unfilled?

My brother & his wife received a paid OJT to be dialysis technicians almost 20 years ago when there was a shortage of skilled techs. He didn’t have to go to a tech school and drown in debt. They were shown the way and excelled at it for almost 20 years!

I was also trained in HR! My education came later. I learned how to use HR systems and learned how to use Microsoft software without the benefit of a formal education. It boggles my mind when certain companies ask for certifications pertaining to skills that are readily picked up on the job. How can we expect our recent grads to step up if we’re not willing to provide training? Exposure to a wide variety of HR scenarios grants us the ability to get past a one-size-fits-all mentality that often afflicts those with knowledge of practices and procedures, but little else. This is particularly important for those working in states with complex and nuanced regulatory regimes, such as California and Oregon.

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The Purple Squirrel Syndrome

The Purple Squirrel is someone willing to accept unconscionably low wages. Click here to read Urban’s dictionary humorous definition: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Purple%20Squirrel

In this job market, no one wants to be a Purple Squirrel. They want to be the “Unicorn” – rare, hard to catch, and very valuable. They want to be richly compensated (who can blame them?).

If you want to bridge the skills gap, pay up! Economic principles tell us that the job market abhors a void, and the bigger the salary, the bigger the void. Sufficient wages will inevitably motivate candidates to pick up whatever skills are required.  If you can’t afford to pay up, then train up. Your new employees will probably be more loyal to you in the long run.

#SHRM #HR #TalentAqcuisition #SkillsGap #OJT