IN response to a Fraser of Allander Institute report results highlighting a growing mismatch between the skills available and those demanded by employers, Wbg, one of Scotland’s leading independent specialist full-service accountancy firms, is advising SMEs to consider outsourcing.
The report references one in four Scottish employers reporting vacancies, with a third of these classified as skill-shortage vacancies: a sharp rise from 2020. Skilled trades and professionals claimed to be the most affected areas, with shortages in technical, analytical, and digital skills reported as most prominent.
The Skills for Today and Tomorrow report also focused on education and training, citing a lack of alignment between the skills taught and those required by rapidly evolving industries such as technology and renewable energy.
Mark Mulholland, partner in Wbg’s Business Advisory department, said: “While there are many sectors where outsourcing is problematic, such as care homes where recruitment is a major challenge, other sectors, such as IT, can be outsourced easily.
“If there are skills gaps within an SME’s inhouse IT department, they might wish to consider outsourcing that function to address that issue.”
Mulholland advises SMEs tackling skills gaps and an ageing workforce to consult with family and friends of existing employees and to contact local school to seek to attract school leavers, while emphasising the importance of training and apprenticeship programmes.
“Given the number of tradespeople aged over 55, colleges and apprenticeships have an important role to play in attracting a younger generation to fill the skills gaps in SMEs,” he said.
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He also encourages business owners to look out for market opportunities by going against the grain, citing as an example a restaurant in Glasgow city centre which chose to remain open on what are traditionally considered to be the quietest nights for trade, while many of its competitors opted to close on these evenings.
“Ironically, the restaurant that chose not to close on ‘quiet’ nights enjoyed its busiest nights of the week on Mondays and Tuesdays because most other restaurants had closed on these evenings and there were still many would-be diners looking for somewhere to eat,” he said.
“So, there are opportunities out there if you can get the staffing and know your market. There is a skills shortage and other businesses may be feeling the pain but just because others are suffering doesn’t mean necessarily that your business has to too if you can think creatively.”
