Skills shortages arise because the demand for particular skills exceeds the numbers of people trained in those skills. Periodically, national shortages are reported in the press and this raises the profile politically. Consequently, the government has sought to address these problems over the years through a variety of initiatives. Current at the time of writing this chapter is the ‘train to gain’ initiative, which helps to finance approved relevant training in organisations. An HR practitioner can make a significant contribution by keeping in touch with such initiatives. But not everyone believes that skills shortages are serious. Indeed, there is an ongoing debate about the importance of such shortages.
Nonetheless, in particular sectors, at particular times, skills shortages do arise. Training existing staff can do much to avert skills shortages, but it takes time. For example, it takes years to train an engineering apprentice and unexpected shortages can therefore not be rectified quickly. So HR planning needs, in part, to consider, and where possible to address, shortages that can be anticipated arising from retirement, changes in technology or from the social perception of certain types of work. Searching for skills shortages on the Internet can produce current information about skills and occupational types in which there may be shortages.