Some industries face labor shortage, shows study

Hacer Boyacıoğlu - ANKARA

Turkish companies operating in certain industries are struggling to find employees to hire for varying reasons, while firms are increasingly turning to e-commerce, according to a study conducted by the employment agency İş-Kur.

Waitresses, bakers, lathe operators, sales assistants, sewing machine operators, software engineers and housekeeping staff at hotels top the most wanted but difficult to find employee list, found the study, which was conducted among nearly 71,000 companies.

According to the study, the top 10 sought after employees for university graduates include software engineers, male accountants, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, software developers, software support specialists, agricultural engineers and metallurgical engineers.

Around 5.1 percent of the companies, which took part in the survey, said they had vacant positions to fill with the jab vacancy rates standing much higher in the information and communications industry - in one out of 12 firms - and manufacturing sector – in 10 percent of the companies.

In response to the question on why they faced difficulties finding someone to hire, 86 percent of the companies cited the lack of qualitied workers. While 84.2 percent of the surveyed said the candidates did not have enough experience, another 72 percent said nobody applied for the vacant jobs.

Some 39 percent of the businesses said they could not hire because potential candidate’s wage expectation was much higher than they could afford, and 43 percent cited the pandemic for failing to find personnel.

According to 23 percent of the respondents, candidates did not like the work conditions and work environment and chose not to take the job.

Turkey’s unemployment rate was 11.2 percent in November 2021, easing from 11.8 a year earlier, the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed.

The number of unemployed increased by 39,000 from the previous month to 3.8 million people.

Firms turning to e-commerce

The study also found that companies are increasingly turning to e-commerce to do business.

Back in 2019, only 13 of companies, which employ more than 20 workers, engaged in e-commerce, while this figure gradually increased to 15 percent in 2020 and further up to 16 percent in 2021, according to the study.

More than 50 percent of the companies surveyed said they do not have any idea how the developments in technology in the next 10 years will impact employment. Some 16 percent of the participants expect advanced technology will boost employment, while 12 percent think the opposite will happen.

Around 14 percent of the firms with more than 20 employees plan new investments within one year, while 13.5 percent with more than 10 employees have similar plans. However, only 2.5 percent of the businesses with more than two employees mull making investment over the same period.