2025年全球需求技能研究 global in-demand skills research

the2025

globalin-demandskillsresearch.

executivesummary.

Thechallengesoftalentscarcityhavenotgoneawaybut

areshiftingasbusinessesembarkinaworldofreimaginedwork,AI-poweredefficiencyandaconstantracetoinnovateaheadofthecompetition.

Conductedbyour

TalentIntelligence

team,Randstad

Enterprise’s2025

GlobalIn-demandSkillsresearch

has

compiled,aggregated,normalizedandanalyzedglobal

employmentdatafrommultiplesourcesandacrossfive

dimensionstouncoverwhichprofessionalskillsareseeing

thehighestdemand.Aspartofthisstudy,weanalyzedmorethan22millionjobpostingsand166millionCVsassessedonaskilllevelandover380milliononameta-datalevel.This

datawascollectedoverthecourseofayearandreflectsamorepreciseviewoftheskillsavailabletoemployersin24marketsaroundtheworld.

Our2025researchshowsthatexperiencedtalent,

regardlessofrolesorskills,continuestobechallengingtoacquire,especiallyinsomeregions.Whethercompanies

arelookingforAIengineers,marketingcontentcreatorsormaintenancespecialists,jobsrequiringconsiderableyearsofexperienceremaininhighdemandanddifficulttofill.

Trendsshowthisproblemwilllikelyexacerbateinthefuture.Oneclearreasonisamarkeddeclineindemandforjunior

talenttoday.Thiscouldleadtofuturescarcityofmid-andlater-careerworkerswhoseseasonedexpertiseiscriticaltosuccessfulpeoplemanagementandbusinessoutcomes.

Overthelastyear,thesupplyofin-demandtalenthas

steadilygrowninplacessuchasIndiaduetonewentrantsintothelabormarket.Atthesametime,demandforskillshasdeclinedinnumerousmarketswithafewnotable

exceptions.Forinstance,intheU.S.,demandforjunior

talenthasfallenbyclosetoone-thirdbutincreasedby

single-digitsforexperiencedworkers.InIndia,thegap

inhiringcomplexityforexperiencedandjuniorrolesis

thehighestamongallmarkets;employershiringhereareexperiencingscarcityformid-andsenior-leveltalent.

What’sclearisthatdemandforhighlyspecializedskillsisnotdeclining,regardlessofgeography,andthishasmadehiringchallengingformany.Asexpected,workerswithAIand

automationcompetenciesremaininhighdemand,butthisyearourresearchfindstheaverageyearlyjobvacancyrate(JVR)—whichprovidesaclearviewofjusthowchallengingitistoacquiretalent—tobehighestfordatascientistsandmarketingtalent.

2

high-demandskillclustersfor2025

The2025GlobalIn-demandSkillsResearchconfirms

that,whilethelevelsofdemandhavechangedoverrecentyears,thetophigh-demandclustersremainunchanged.

Theseincludeninewhite-collarskillclusters(traditionallyoffice-based,non-manual)andfourskilledtradefamilies

(typicallynon-office-settingormanualroles)thatare

challengingtohireforin24markets.Distinctionsaremadeinthisresearchforclarificationpurposes,asjobvacancy

ratesforskilledtradesarecontextualizeddifferently.

topwhite-collarskills

AI&automation

audit&compliance

cloudcomputing

customerservice

datascience&analytics

engineering&maintenance

finance&accounting

marketing,content&advertising

softwareprojectmanagement&leadership

topskilledtrades

maintenance&repair

manufacturing&plantoperations

nursing&medicalcare

retail&directsales

3

4

signsofcautiousoptimismahead

Labormarketshaveslowedsincewelastreportedonthe

skillsmostin-demand.Asaresult,talentinsomecategorieshavebecomemorereadilyavailable,whilescarcityhas

worsenedforotherskillclusters.Forexample,sometechskillsarenowred-hot,whileothershavebecomemore

abundantasthenumberofskilledtalentgrows.This

shiftishelpingtoalleviatesomeofthehiringbottlenecksemployersexperiencedafewyearsago.Overall,however,thenumberofwhite-collarjobsposted—especiallyfor

juniorroles—hasdeclined.

Asilverlininginthedata:Theweakernumbersoccurredmostlyinthebeginningof2025,andasmalluptickforthelaterhalfoftheyearsuggestsemployersmayfeelmore

assuredfortheyearahead.

Demandforskilledtraderolescontinuestoremainbuoyantthroughout2025,markedbyhigherdemandforhealthcareandmanufacturingtalentinmanymarkets.TheJVRsfor

retailanddirectsalesrolestypicallyvaryfrommarket

tomarket,butthisyear,wefindthemtobesurprisingly

complexforafewmarkets.Forinstance,theJVRinFrancehasreached29%forthisgroup,significantlyhigherthan

othermarketsinWesternEuropeandtherestoftheworld;onlyintheU.K.andSwitzerlandaretheJVRsover20%.

ThedataforretailhiringinFranceisexceptionallyhigh,especiallywhencomparedwiththeaverageoftheninewhite-collarjobclustersinthismarket(9.5%).

OneofthetrendswecontinuetoobserveistheimpactofAIonthelabormarket—affectingthedemandforskills,talentmobilityandcompensation.Inthisyear’sresearch,wefoundthat19%ofthoseintheAIclusterhavechangedjobs.This

wasthemostfluidcategory,followedbydatascienceandanalyticsat18%.

Intermsofdemand,AIandautomationjoblistingshave

increased39.6%.Atthesametime,however,thereislittletonochangeindemandforthedatascienceandanalytics,cloudcomputing,andauditandcomplianceskillclusters,whiletheaveragevolumeofadvertisedjobsforin-demandskillshasdeclinedbyapproximately12%.

Ourresearchwasconductedbynormalizingandanalyzingmillionsofjobpostingsandtalentprofilesfromthemost

representativesourcesacross24marketsglobally.In

additiontocollectingdataforthemostin-demandlearnedskills,wealsoexaminedCVsandrolesmentioninginherentskills.Fortheseinherentskills,weassessedtheimpactofAIonsupplyanddemand.

Thisreportprovidesjustaglimpseofourentireresearch.

Keepreadingtogetaviewofglobalfindings,thenexploreour

interactivedashboard

tobetterassessmarketdynamicsacrosseachofthefivedimensions:(1)theskillsand

motivationsneeded,(2)skillssupply,(3)skillsdemand,

(4)compensation,and(5)remoteandhybridworking

trends.Thereyoucanalsofilterclusterdatamorebymarketandotherdimensionstobetterunderstandtrendsand

developmentsintheworldofwork.

year-over-yearskilldemandchanges

AI&automation

+39.6%

cloudcomputing

+1.8%

audit&compliance

+1.5%

datascience&analytics

+0.6%

softwareproject

management&leadership

-7.6%

customerservice

-11.5%

finance&accounting

-11.9%

engineering&maintenance

-17.9%

marketing,content&

advertising

-18.4%

averageacrossallskillclusters

-11.9%

overalljobvacancyrate(JVR)demandchange2025vs.2024

MateuszGórecki

directoroftalentintelligenceoperationsRandstadEnterprise

5

global

highlights.

1.Jobadvertisementsareincreasinglymorecomplex,whileaccesstoseniorin-demandtalentalsogrowsmorecomplex.Theaveragejobvacancyrate(JVR)acrossmarketscurrentlyreaches8.8%overall.

2.Specializedskillsaremorevalued,withindividual

sub-skillhiringcomplexitythehighestacrossdata

science,AIandcloudcomputing.Thehardestrolestohireforarethoseneedingexperienceddata

scienceandAI/automationtalent(17.0%and16.0%

JVRs,respectively).Seniortalentisextremelyhardtoacquireinthesecategories,andasignificantshareofjobpostingsleanstowardexperiencedtalent.

3.Hiringin-demandtalentismostchallenginginPortugal,whichfacesaJVRof11.3%.Germany,Sweden,NorwayandFrancearealsochallengingmarkets.

4.Marketsfacingthegreatestseniortalenthiring

complexityareMalaysia,GermanyandFrance.Hiringcomplexityforseniorworkershasincreasedmost

inIndia,MalaysiaandCanada.InIndia,theJVRforexperiencedtalentisabout230%higherthantheglobalaverage.

5.MarketsenjoyingthelowestoverallhiringcomplexityincludeRomania(4.7%JVR),Canada(4.9%)andIndia(5.5%).Romaniaalsohasthelowesthiringcomplexityforseniortalent(6.5%).

6.TheskillclusterswiththehighestgrowtharemostlyintheAIandautomation(anincreaseof3.7%forjuniortalent)anddatascienceandanalytics(3.1%forjuniortalent)categories.

7.Theclusterswiththeslowestgrowtharecustomerservice(0.4%)andauditandcompliance(0.4%).

8.There’snocleartrendinremote-hybridarrangementsonageographiclevel,aspracticesarequitevaried.

Acrossmostgeographies,bothhybridandremote

arrangementshavedeclinedwithafewexceptions.

Candidatepreferences,however,leantowardremoteworkmoreeachyear,withanaverageincreaseof27%.

9.Theauditandcomplianceandcustomerserviceskill

clustersseesignificantincreasesinremoteopportunityavailability.Thesametrendisobservedwithtalent;

morepeoplearedeclaringawillingnesstoworkin

remote/hybridenvironments.Marketingistheonlyskillclusterthatnotessomedecline.

10.ThemostmobileskillclusterisAIandautomation,

followedbydatascienceandanalytics.Approximately19%oftheoveralltalentpoolinAIandautomation,and18%indatascienceandanalytics,havechangedjobssincelastyear.

6

11.EventhoughAIandautomationanddatascienceand

analyticsworkersarethemostmobile,cloudcomputingandsoftwareprojectmanagementtalentaremost

activeinseekingnewopportunities.Thegroupleastinterestedinajobchangeisfinanceandaccounting,whilemarketingtalentistheonlygroupthathas

experiencedadeclineininterestinchangingjobs.

12.Themarketswiththehighestpercentageofworkers

whoareopentonewopportunitiesincludeMalaysia

(morethan60%oftalentareactivelylooking)andIndia(nearly58%).Mexicocloselytrailsat55%,followed

byArgentina(53%)andSingapore(52%).Broadly,

thepercentageoftalentinterestedinchangingjobshasgrownbyapproximately6%,withmostnotableexamplesintheU.K.,theU.S.andSingapore.

13.ThemarketswiththehighesttalentstabilityareBelgiumandNorway,wherelessthan30%oftalentisactively

lookingtochangejobs.Comparatively,talentinthe

APACregionismoremobile,averaging50%to60%ofworkersactivelyseekingnewroles.

14.TalentacrossskillclusterswithAIskillsareusually

moreopentoswitchingjobs.Thisismainlydrivenbyafewtalentgroupsinselectmarkets.Eighty-seven

percent(87%)offinanceandaccountingprofessionalswithAIskillsareactivelyseekingorpassivelyopentoopportunities.

15.TalentwithAIskillsaremoremobile(havechangedjobssincelastyear)intheU.S.(+40%),theU.K.(+23%)and

Malaysia(+23%).IntheNetherlands,ItalyandSingaporeworkerswithAIskillsarelessmobile.Onaskillcluster

level,talentwithAIskillsaregenerallymoremobile

infinanceandaccounting,auditandcompliance,

customerservice,andsoftwareprojectmanagement.Thisisespeciallytrueinthefinanceandaccounting

cluster,whereworkerswithAIskillsareapproximatelytwiceasmobilethanthosewithout.

16.Marketswiththehighestshareofself-reportedAIskillsincludeGermany,Italy,BrazilandSpain

(11.7%,11.3%,11.1%and10.2%,respectively).Markets

withthelowestsharesincludetheU.S.(3.6%),theU.K.(3.8%)andAustralia(4.6%).

17.JobadvertisementsseekingAIskillsareproportionallyhighestinNorway(8.0%)Romania(7.9%),Spain

(5.5%)andSingapore(5.5%).ThelowestpercentagesarefoundinAustralia(1.5%),theU.K.(2.2%)andtheNetherlands(2.4%).

18.Amongclusters,thehighestsuppliesofAI-skilled

talentarefoundindatascienceandanalytics(26.0%)andcloudcomputing(16.0%).Conversely,thelowestpercentagesareinfinanceandaccounting(1.5%)andcustomerservice(0.7%).

19.SkillclustersthatmostcommonlyrequiresecondaryAIcompetenciesarethoseindatascienceandanalytics(18.0%),cloudcomputing(8.5%),marketing(5.0%),andsoftwareprojectmanagement(4.9%).

20.TalentwhomostcommonlylisttheirAIcompetenciesarethosewith10ormoreyearsoftotalexperience.

Datascienceandanalytics,aswellascloudcomputingprofessionals,aremorelikelytoacquireAIskillsearlierintheircareers.

21.Theshareofcontractorsfillingin-demandroleshas

fallenacrosstheboardthisyear,withnotabledeclinesinfinanceandaccounting(-34.0%),marketing(-15.0%)andsoftwareprojectmanagement(-11.6%).Afew

notableandexpectedexceptionsincludetheAIandautomationclusterandtheauditandcompliance

cluster,wherecontractworkhasnearlydoubled.

22.Bymarket,Czechianotesthemostsignificantdrop

ofin-demandcontractors;thecurrentshareof

contractorsisapproximately15%,downfrom31%lastyear.TheU.S.reportsthegreatestincreaseacrossallclusters(14.8%from10.8%),whiletheglobalaveragehasdecreased2.7%.

globaltalent

supply&demand.

Employersexperiencinghiringcomplexitywillbehappytolearnthatthesupplyoftalentpossessingin-demandskills

continuestoincreaseyearoveryear.Thisisparticularly

encouragingforthoselookingtoacquirerolesincloud

computing,AIandautomation,anddatascienceand

analytics.TechnicalskillsgrowthremainspopulardespiteallconversationsfueledbyAIproductivityshifts.Thisshould

comeasnosurpriseastheglobaleconomyacceleratesonAIanddatademands,incentivizingbothearlycareerandexperiencedworkerstoseekouttheseskills.

Yet,despitetheseincreases,somerolescontinuetobe

challengingtofill.Forinstance,thecomplexityoffilling

customerserviceprofessionalsremainshigh,withajob

vacancyrate(JVR)of6.7%,whileforrolesindatascience

andanalytics,therateis8.4%.Thecomplexityriseswhenconsideringtalentpurelyfromalocalperspective.Whyarebuyer-facingpositionsstillsohardtohireandretain?Tobesuccessfulincustomerservice,corepersonalskillsincludecommunicationandempathy;however,ourresearch

showsthatthesupplyofcandidatesemphasizingtheircommunicationskillshasfallenbydoubledigits(-33%);forempathy,asmalldecline(-2.3%)isreportedaswell.

Indeed,thedatashowscertainspecificsub-skillsarehardtocomeby.Forinstance,rolesthatcallforAIinfrastructureandtoolexpertiseareunderstandablyamongthemost

difficulttofillthisyear,withanaverageJVRof15.7%.

However,rolesthatrequirereportingcompetenciesrankthesecond-highestwithaJVRof12.9%.Double-digitcomplexityisalsoobservedforequipmentandmaintenanceskills,

roboticsandmanyotherswhenexaminedbyindividualhiringcomplexityacrossmultiplegeographies.

Withintheskilledtradessegment,employersofretailand

directsalestalentarestillchallengedtokeeprolesfilledin

manymarkets.TheJVRsfornearlyhalfofthejobswetrackedthisyearareinthedoubledigits.Ontheotherhand,therateissignificantlylowerformanufacturingandplantoperators,averaging2.9%acrossallmarkets.Thisisduetoanelastic

laborsupplythatexpandsandcontractstodemand.

Withmanufacturing

slowingthisyear

duetoeconomic

uncertainty,manufacturerswilllikelycontinuetoenjoylowerhiringcomplexity;however,thismaynotbethecaseacrossallmarkets.Forinstance,theJVRformanufacturingtalent

isunusuallyhighintheNetherlands(12%):aboutfourtimesthatoftheglobalaverage(2.9%).Similarly,inBelgiumtherateisabout2.6timeshigher.

AdvancementsintheAIspaceandthe

productivityboosttheyprovidewon’tclosethe

criticalgapforexperiencedtalentthatemployersareexperiencing.Seniortalentiscontinuously

hardtohire,andifemployersreduceinvestmentsinthehiringanddevelopmentofmorejunior

talent,thisgapwillcontinuetowidenincoming

years.Employerswillneedtocontinueinvestinginemergingtalentandearlycareerprogramstohelpclosethegap.”

JoostHeins

globalheadofintelligenceRandstadEnterprise

7

8

whicharethe

mostcompetitive

Bymarket,Poland(28.7%),Portugal(20.6%)and

Mexico(18.9%)havethethreehighestJVRs—andthus,hiringcomplexity—fordatascienceandanalyticsroles.

BasedonJVR,theserolesarelikelymucheasiertorecruitforinCanada(4.7%),Norway(4.7%)andtheNetherlands(5.5%).Thisisduetoaproportionallylargerpoolofexperienced

datascienceandanalyticsworkersinthesemarketsandreducedpressurecausedbyoffshoringtrends.

Amongallin-demandskillclusters,marketing,contentandadvertisingskillsarethesecond-mostcomplextohirefor,withafractionallylowerJVR(8.4%).Thisisn’tsurprising;

organizationshavebeenexpandingtheirmarketing

functionsaggressivelyinrecentyearsascustomer

behaviorsandbuyinghabitsshift.Manyareenhancing

theirbuyerjourneysandexpandingtheirreachwith

data-driven,customizedapproachestoacquiringand

convertingsalesprospects.Asaresult,demandremains

highforexperiencedprofessionalsinvolvedinmarketing

functions.Marketsexperiencingthebiggestchallenges

includeSweden(20.4%),Portugal(19.8%)andNorway

(14.9%).MarketingprofessionalsaremucheasiertoacquireinSpain,whichhasaJVRofjust3.2%,Romania(3.5%)andAustralia(5.2%).

skillclusters?

WiththeproliferationofAIonthemindsoftalentacquisitionleadersaroundtheworld,itmightsurpriseyoutoknow

thatthehiringcomplexityfortheserolesisactuallylower

thanforjobsinmarketing,contentandadvertising.That’s

because,evenwiththesignificantdemandgrowthforthesejobs,thetalentsupplyisexpandingevenfaster.In2024,itsjobvacancyrate(JVR)wassecondonlytocloudcomputingintermsofhiringcomplexity;ithasnowfallentothirdplace.

Rolesthatrequiredatascienceandanalyticstalentarethemostcomplextohireforthisyear,withaJVRof8.4%.Thechallengebecomesexponentiallyharderwhenemployersseeksenior-leveltalent;theJVRclimbsto16.9%.Notably,highlyexperienceddataandanalyticsprofessionalsalso

tendtobeverymobile;18%haverecentlychangedjobs,and52%areconsideringtheoptiontomove.

AIandautomationprofessionalsremainsomeofthemost

difficulttalenttoacquireintoday’seconomy.WithaJVRof

7.9%,thisclusterhasbecomemoreavailableasaresultof

peopleupskillingandreskillinginthisarea,addingtothe

poolofqualifiedworkers.Amongallin-demandskills,the

numberofAIandautomationprofessionalshasgrownatthefastestpaceyearoveryear.Evenso,highlyexperiencedAI

andautomationprofessionalsaredifficulttoacquire,withaJVRof16.1%.

Asurprisingshiftobservedthisyearistherelativedecline

inhiringcomplexityforauditandcomplianceprofessionals.Inbothour2023and2024studies,thisskillclustertoppedallothers.In2025,itrankssecondtolastwithaJVRof5.4%,justaheadoffinanceandaccountingskills(5.2%).Thismaybeduetoseveralfactors,includingthegrowingranksof

experiencedcomplianceworkers(80.2%ofallprofessionalsinthissegment,comparedwith64.4%in2024),which

enablesemployerstomoreeasilyfillroles.

skillclusterhiringcomplexity

datascience&analytics

16.9%

8.4%

cloud

computing

7.7%11.5%

AI&

automation

16.1%

7.9%

softwareproject

management&leadership

5.8%8.8%

customerservice

15.8%

6.7%

finance&accounting

5.2%6.8%

marketing,content&advertising

8.4%12.6%

audit&

compliance

5.4%6.6%

engineering&

maintenance

7.2%12.6%

overalljobvacancyrate(JVR)JVRforseniorroles

*ThehighertheJVR,thegreaterthehiringcomplexity.

Theglobaltalentmarkethasexperienced

seismicshiftsoverthelastdecade,withhiringforin-demandskillsgrowingmoreintenseandcompetitiveoverrecentyearsduetotheriseofAIandacontinuousemphasisonproductivity.Whilegeneraldemandhassoftened,demandforspecializedskillshasincreased.Itrequiresbothemployersandemployeestounderstandwhichskillswillbecomecriticalandtoinvestindevelopingthoseskills.”

TracyWharton

headoftalentintelligence,NAMRandstadEnterprise

9

10

inherent&

learnedskills.

Withthegloballabormarketshiftingquickly,talentneed

tobeadaptive,inquisitiveandanalyticaltothriveintheAIeconomy.Theyunderstandthisandareactivelysignallingtheirskillstogettheattentionofemployers,accordingtothe

OECD

.Thistrendishelpingemployersacquiretherighthiresastheyembraceaskills-firstworkforce.

Whenweexaminethe15coreorinherentskillspeoplepossess,prioritieshaveclearlyshiftedsince2024,

andtheyarelikelytochangeagainin2026.Themost

in-demandsub-skillthisyearisattentiontodetail,butthat

hasfallenprecipitouslyincomparisontoothers.Demand

forleadershipandmotivationskillstopsthelistofred-hot

inherentskillsandhasgrownthemostthisyear;itranked

justseventhayearago.Demandforthisinherentskillis

nearlytwiceashighasthesecond-mostin-demandinherentskill:problem-solving,criticalthinkingandlogicalreasoning,whichrankedfifthlastyear.

Thisshiftinpriorityreflectshoworganizationshavesteppeduptheireffortstogrowexecutivepipelines.Accordingto

Gartner

,leaderandmanagerdevelopmentisoneofthetopfiveprioritiesfororganizationsin2025.Infact,itfound,just23%ofHRleadersareconfidenttheyhaverisingleaders

whocanmeetthefutureneedsoftheorganization.

Companiesarenaturallyseekingcomplementaryskills,

suchasproblem-solving,criticalthinkingandreasoning,whichiswhythesearethesecond-mostsoughtafterskillsetthisyear.Employersrecognizethat,atthispoint,AI

toolslackthesehumancapabilitiesandwillneedpeopletooptimizetechnologyinthenearfuture.Thethird-mostdesiredinherentskillsetisaccountability,whichmovesdownoneplacefromlastyear.

Acquiringimportantinherentskills,however,isoften

challenging.Thejobvacancyrates(JVRs)forrolesthat

requirehigh-demandinherentskillsarehigherthanfor

thoserequiringtechnicalskills.Forinstance,jobsthat

prioritizeresiliencehaveaJVRof12%,andthoserequiringcreativityhaveaJVRof8.7%(Incomparison,theJVRforAIandautomationskillsislowerat7.8%).Rolesthatrequire

patienceandcomposurelandthirdat7.9%.TheseJVRs,

andhiringcomplexity,maybehigherasfewercandidatesadvertisetheseskillsontheirCVs;thismakesitevenmorechallengingforemployerstoidentifytalentwhopossessthesehigh-demandinherentskills.

Inherentskillsthataretheleastcomplextoacquireare

intuitiveinsights,ethicaljudgmentandadesiretoseekoutcontinuouslearning.Demandforsuchskillshasdeclined

significantlyoverthepastyear,signalingaclearshiftin

prioritiesforemployersastheygrapplewiththeadoptionofAIanddatascienceintheirbusinesses.

top10mostcompetitiveinherentskills

inherentskilljobvacancyrate(JVR)

resilience

12.0%

creativity

8.7%

patienceandcomposure

7.9%

leadershipandmotivation

7.7%

adaptability

6.9%

accountability

6.2%

analyticalthinking

5.7%

teamcollaboration

5.5%

decision-making

5.5%

empathy

5.3%

*ThehighertheJVR,thegreaterthehiringcomplexity.

Employersshouldprioritizethedevelopmentofinherentskills,likeleadership,attentionto

detail,problem-solvingandcriticalthinking,astheseareincreasinglyvitalintheAIeconomy.

Investinexecutivepipelinesandrecognizethe

uniquelyhumancapabilitiesthatAIcurrently

lacks.Adaptsourcingandscreeningstrategies

toallowcandidatestoshowcasethesecrucial

skillsthatwillhelpyourbusinessthriveamidrapidtechnologicalshifts.”

TamaravanDijk

headofclientpartnersRandstadEnterprise

11

12

localmarketcomplexity.

Everymarketfaceshiringcomplexity.Talentscarcityremainsstubbornlyentrenchedinanumberofmarketsduetoan

insufficientsupplyofskilledworkers,agingdemographicsandalackofnewentrantstotheworkforce.Forinstance,severalEuropeanmarketsaccountforthehighestoveralljobvacancyrates(JVRs)acrossbothwhite-collarrolesandskilledtrades.AfewmarketsinAsiaarealsostrugglingtofindenoughtalenttosatisfytheirlocalneeds.

IntheNetherlands,employersareexperiencingdouble-digitJVRsforskilledtrades:retailanddirectsalesroles(14.5%),

maintenanceandrepairworkers(17.6%),andmanufacturingandplantoperationsprofessionals(12.0%).Similarhiring

complexitiesareobservedforengineeringandmaintenanceworkersandcustomerserviceagents.

InFrance,theaverageJVRis12.7%acrossallskilled

trades—thehighestamongallmarkets.Ontheotherhand,inIndia,theJVRfortheserolesisonly0.3%.Despiteitslargeworkforce,thismarketalsofaceshiringcomplexityforrolesthatrequireseniortalent.ItsJVRforallrolesrequiring10

ormoreyearsofexperienceis12.6%,amongthehighest

acrossall24marketsresearched.ThisislikelyduetoIndia’s

proportionallyyoungerpopulation

,comparedtoother

industrializedmarkets.

Rolesrequiringexperiencedtalentarechallengingtofill

inseveralothermarketsaswell.Forinstance,Malaysia

hasthehighestJVRforseniortalentat16.9%,andGermanyfollowscloselybehindat16.2%.Experiencedtalentis

leastdifficulttoacquireinRomania(6.5%),Canada(8.4%)andAustralia(8.1%).Thesethreemarketsalsohavelow

overallJVRs,indicatingmarketsthatarewell-alignedwithemployerneeds.

TheU.S.,theworld’slargestmarketforin-demandskills,

isexperiencingadeclineinbothskillsupplyanddemand.TheU.S.andU.K.aretheonlytwomarketsthatseea

supplydrop-offthisyear.FortheU.S.,thelocalsupplymaybeattributedtocurtailedimmigrationin2025—atrend

likelytocontinue

andimpacttechtalentavailability.

Localmarketsarecontendingwithconvergingforcesthatmaybothalleviateandexacerbateaccesstoin-demand

skills.Rigidpolicieshavemadeacquiringremoteworkersmorechallenging,butourdatashowsmorecompaniesarewillingtoconsideroff-sitearrangements.Theunrelentingscarcityofseniortalentinmostmarketsisprompting

employerstoreconsiderworkschedulesatatimewhencriticaltalentisneededforbusinesstransformation.

Additionally,withtalentmobilitymorerestricted,localorganizationsmustre-evaluatehowtoquicklytrainanddevelop