Chapter 5 Media Article

Confronting the Coming Talent Crunch: What's Next?
Manpower Inc. - February 2006

Very recently, Manpower Inc. has conducted a survey for 33,000 employers across 23 countries, and its result reveals that many employers are either unsatisfied with the lack of talented employees on the market. Out of which, 31% of Hong Kong's employers cannot find suitable candidates for various job positions, especially positions in Technicians, Sales Representatives, and Engineers. According to this article, "Employers are not just looking for bodies to fill sales jobs, they want experienced sales people who know their respective industries and can drive revenues". This may be a bit too much to ask for in Hong Kong, as demographic shifts such as aging population, lower birth rates, globalization, and social evolution are all occuring simultaneously. The new generation of youths in Hong Kong, already inexperienced, are subjected to cultural change that advocates for more enjoyment in life and less work. These Chinese youths simply cannot meet the insatiable demand of many employers to fill up these vacant job positions. However, just north of Hong Kong in mainland China lives many of these talents who are well qualified for these job positions. These people, should they not live at the wrong locality of the earth, may get these jobs and live contented lives.

Relation to Chapter 5:
Structural Unemployment (Geographic Dimension)

The supplies of jobs in Hong Kong are abundant, but many of these specific/technical jobs require so much qualifications that the supplies of these qualified skillsmen simply cannot meet their ever-increasing demands. On the other hand, though, these employers cannot simply find someone incompetent to fill up these job positions. An example of this situation would be the lack of talented Technicians in Hong Kong. Employers in Hong Kong, according to Manpower's Talent Shortage Survey, demanded Technicians (engineering, maintenance) the most in its top 10 want-list. Yes, there are numberous people who would fight over such high-paying jobs (so the supply of workers are not deficient), but it also does not necessarily mean employers are satisfied with the quality of the job applicants. However, according to this article, mainland China has many employable talents in the field of engineering and technical supports. Unfortunately, although some people in China may be well-qualified for this job, these people simply live too far away to be able to work at the jobs they can excel in; thus, the unemployment rate of China increases because some of these technicians are unemployed due to a geographic reason. This type of unemployment is called Structural Unemployment (Geographic Dimension). This type of unemployment results from a mismatching of workers and jobs, rather than a shortage of jobs. These situations are very commonplace in the world, and sometimes it is out of humans' limits to control their fates as to where they live in the world. Therefore, to counter the talent shortage in the world, I think employers may need to reduce the number of jobs that are in short supply, and increase the number of jobs that require more employable talents (or lessen the qualifications they look in their employees; or provide more trainings so these employees would meet their qualifications).