There’s long been a ready acceptance of a shortage of skilled candidates from STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths] backgrounds, but very little understanding as to why.
The monthly Report on Jobs produced by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation regularly identifies specialist skills for the engineering, construction and IT sectors as being in short supply, for both temporary and permanent positions. However, a 2013 UKCES analysis of the ONS Labour Force Survey showed that of new graduates with a degree in a STEM subject, 66 per cent were working in a non-core STEM job in a non-core STEM sector.
In other words, only one third of STEM graduates were working in a job or sector related to their degree, whereas ten years earlier almost half had been.
Why does this happen? What creates this mismatch? What can employers do to attract candidates in this sector?
“The skill shortage might just be a convenient myth for employers, when in fact they don’t understand what job seekers really want.”
To understand what is going on, we conducted a significant research with 900 participants amongst STEM skilled workers and companies. We gave them both an equal voice instead of reporting it only from one perspective, feeling duty bound to investigate the root cause. The results, developed into a whitepaper for you to download, might surprise you.
If you’d like to discuss this whitepaper or anything related to talent acquisition, please get in touch.
Leon Howgill
Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)
