New data | What is the biggest hiring challenge HR is currently facing?

The UK skills gap is the most prominent hiring challenge facing HR leaders, new research reveals.

ECI Partners, a private equity firm, has found that HR leaders believe the most prominent hiring challenge they currently face is a lack of technical skills and knowledge. Nearly a fifth (18.3%) of managers said this was their single biggest obstacle, highlighting the growing concern over the UK’s skills gap. The current labour shortages prompted by a range of factors including Brexit and Covid-19, appear to have further widened that gap.

HR managers also stated that a lack of industry experience and salary expectations were the next biggest challenges in hiring. Given the current inflationary market, it is likely that salary expectations will become a more significant challenge for HR leaders trying to keep pace with the competition over the next 12 months.

Despite these challenges, businesses believe recruitment will be critical to the growth of UK businesses over the next five years. More than three-quarters (78%) of HR managers believe that recruitment is a very important part of achieving their leadership team’s growth objectives over the next 12 months.