What are skill shortages?

Over the past few years you will have heard various references to skill and labour shortages and different skills being in high demand in New Zealand. What does this all mean and how does it impact on your child’s future career?

What is a skill shortage?

A skill shortage exists when the supply of people with particular skills is insufficient to meet demand for people with those skills. Skill shortage is a catch-all term used to describe a range of situations in which an employer finds it difficult to recruit an appropriately skilled person.

Skill shortages may arise in a number of circumstances, such as:

A genuine skill shortage – when employers have considerable difficulty filling job vacancies simply because there are insufficient job seekers with the required skills. For example, construction would suffer from a skill shortage of carpenters if experienced carpenters were needed, but there were insufficient carpenters with these skills who were currently unemployed and looking for a job.
Recruitment and retention difficulties – when there is a considerable supply of individuals with the required skills in the potential labour market but they are unwilling to take up employment because they are dissatisfied with levels of pay and/or working conditions.
Labour shortage – when there are simply not enough workers available to perform the work required. This can happen across industries and take place among skilled, low/semi-skilled and unskilled occupations. Low unemployment and an increasing demand for seasonal workers have contributed to labour shortages in a number of industries.

Source: Department of Labour, ‘Skills in the Labour Market – February 2008’.

Skills in demand change over time and can be influenced by:

technological changes
economic shifts
the global movement of skilled workers
ageing populations.

What does a skill shortage mean for planning your career?

Obviously identifying skill shortages is not the main deciding factor when choosing a career or training path – it should be based on individual interests, passions, personal skills and values. However, knowing what competencies and specialisations are in high demand in the market place can be very beneficial in helping to decide on a career that will provide lots of opportunity for growth and movement.

Photo of Caleb

Caleb

Caleb knew that he was interested in a creative career. Ever since he was young he had been artistic and had spent lots of time drawing and sketching. His mother had even let him paint a mural on his sister’s bedroom wall when he was 14. When he was coming to the end of Year 13 he had no real idea of what career paths his creative abilities could lead him to. He had heard that no one made any money out of being a painter so that didn’t interest him.

Caleb started to research opportunities in the creative field. Becoming a graphic artist appealed to him, as he also loved working on the computer, but from talking to people he found out that entry into this field is highly competitive.

One employer he spoke to mentioned that there was a shortage of film animators in the industry and growing opportunities in this area. After looking at different training options, Caleb was accepted into a Bachelor of Computer Graphics Design course and is now looking at specialising in animation and visual effects.

Photo of Haley

Haley

Haley had excelled at maths, physics and computing at high school. Her parents had been looking at information systems qualifications for her, but Haley felt she needed to find a career with more of a people focus, as she was outgoing and enjoyed social contact with others. Haley’s uncle worked at the local hospital and suggested that she might consider a job in medicine or health, as there were numerous opportunities and shortages in the sector.

After sitting down and looking at different careers in the health sector (half of which she’d never even heard of), Haley became very interested in the job of medical radiation technologist. Her uncle arranged for her to meet with Cathy, who did this job at the local hospital, to talk more about it and what was involved. Haley was amazed at the advanced technology used to do x-rays and scans on patients.

Cathy told her that there was a high demand for these skills, both in NZ and overseas, which excited Haley. After checking her options, Haley enrolled in a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Medical Radiation Technology) and is excited by her future prospects

Photo of Joshua

Joshua

Joshua had enjoyed maths, science and graphics at school and had always been good at finding solutions. He wanted a career that allowed him to use his practical skills as well as his problem-solving abilities, but also provided the opportunity for variety. While attending a career expo with school he heard a speaker talking about some of the occupations in the engineering field that were experiencing skill shortages, and the opportunities in that industry.

Joshua hung around to talk to the speaker and get information about the range of qualifications and apprenticeships available, and to find out more about employment prospects.

After going through all the information with his parents and doing some more research on the Internet, Joshua contacted the industry training organisation to talk more about mechanical engineering and enrolled in an eight-week pre-apprenticeship course to see if it was right for him. Joshua loved the course and as a result found an apprenticeship with the local power company and began his National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering.

An unexpected bonus for Joshua was being awarded a $2,500 scholarship towards his fees and he is also being paid to learn. Joshua is loving the hands-on, calculation and problem-solving aspects of his training, and is already planning to continue his studies once he has completed his certificate.