GC Situation Report: August 2023 Employment Insights

• The Growth Company (GC) Situation Report, August 2023, includes detailed information on the economy, as well as the results of the GC Survey and Business Confidence Index.
• The latest data shows that little has changed month-on-month when it comes to employment.
• Workforce skills gaps persist, with many firms looking to increase investment in workforce development. In the labour market, meanwhile, around a third of firms are actively recruiting new staff.

The GC Situation Report, August 2023, contains leading economic data from both local and national sources. This month’s survey findings are based on responses from 125 firms recorded between 7th August and 4th September.

Here are the headline figures and trends relating to employment and skills:

Skills Gaps

• 58 percent of firms reported workforce skills were only “partly” at the level needed to meet their business plan objectives (vs. 54 percent previously).
• The main technical skills gaps identified were: Specialist technical skills (30 percent); knowledge of products and/or services (11 percent); advanced specialist information technology skills (8 percent); and adapting to new equipment (7 percent).
• The main people and personal skills gaps were: Sales (14 percent), ability to manage time (11 percent), managing and motivating staff (11 percent), and training people (8 percent).

Workforce and Skills Development

• 47 percent of businesses said they intend to increase capital expenditure to invest in workforce development and skills over the next 12 months (vs. 43 percent previously). 50 percent expect their investment in this area to remain the same (vs. 55 percent previously).
• 46 percent of those surveyed stated they were actively seeking to increase the diversity of their workforce through recruitment and progression practices (vs. 52 percent previously). Meanwhile, 27 percent said they were likely to do so in the future.

Recruitment and Redundancies

• 26 percent of firms said they were actively recruiting new staff, a decrease of 2 percent on July. 16 percent reported difficulties recruiting new staff (vs. 19 percent previously).
• The main job categories companies were looking to fill were customer facing roles (35 percent), managerial roles (15 percent), and roles “not elsewhere classified” (14 percent).
• 2 percent of businesses said they were in the process of making redundancies (vs. 1 percent previously).

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