UK Automotive Industry and how the skills gap is affecting recruitment

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First of all, some background, according to the SMMT the annual turnover over the UK Automotive industry is circa £71.6 Billion, with 814,000 employed across the entire industry.

In the UK there are over 3,000 companies that directly manufacture, distribute or design some form of automotive product.

But could the industry employ even more?

There has been an open vacancy rise of 68% since 2012, and, according to research from recruitment trade body APSCo, a staggering 69% of employers are struggling to get the right candidates. This is down to a variety of reasons, chiefly, of course, the uncertainty around Brexit.

There is however, another reason; today’s passive candidate market which I have previously wrote about.

What percentage of candidates do you think are actively looking for work? 30%? 20%? Maybe even 15%?

Nope. The correct answer is 6%.

Applying that to the UK automotive industry this mean over 2000 companies, whom, already struggling to recruit, have an available candidate pool of approximately 2 million, which will again be vastly whittled down based on qualifications, background and employment history.

As you can see, this is a very small pond to fish in, and may get even smaller as Brexit looms.

Can you relate to this article? Want to know more about our services? Or maybe you’re on the other side of the fence and are struggling to find the right role?