‘Northshoring’: companies at risk due to inefficient talent pipelining strategies

With increasing numbers of businesses ‘Northshoring’ - the process of relocating certain aspects or their entire operation to the region - employers risk exacerbating an already present skills shortage unless more is done to pipeline future talent. That’s according to Preston based recruiter, Clayton Recruitment.

Commenting on the increasing trend of ‘Northshoring’, and what this means for businesses in the region, Tracy Bolan, Commercial Manager at Clayton Recruitment, says:

“Northshoring is no new phenomenon, businesses have been relocating to the region for some years. What is new, however, is the pace at which companies are opening operations in the region. Amazon, for example, is opening four new hubs this year, with the Warrington site alone set to require 1,200 permanent employees. While the creation of jobs is clearly good news for the economy and jobseekers, one major question needs answering. Against a backdrop of existing skills shortages who is going to fill all these positions?”

Recent figures from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, for example, point towards worsening skills shortages across a number of specialisms – including engineers, IT specialists, care workers and accountants – highlighting the already present skills deficit in some areas. Consequently, employers must be looking to the future and developing talent pools that can be called upon as and when they are required. Currently, too many companies adopt a short term approach to recruitment which simply isn’t sustainable. One area which could be a very successful method of tapping into emerging talent is via apprenticeships. And with the Apprenticeship Levy in its infancy, employers that harness this will be able to develop the skills their workplace will need in the future to ward off worsening talent shortages.”

ENDS

Steph King
BlueSky PR
T: +44 (0)1582 790 707
E: stephanie@bluesky-pr.com
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