EU SMEs suffer from staff shortages

Eurobarometer conducted a new survey on behalf of the European Commission. It involved small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-enterprises with less than 10 employees. It found that the biggest threat to this sector is the shortage of skilled workers. This is the view of 53% of micro-enterprises, 65% of small enterprises, and 68% of medium-sized enterprises.

The companies were offered a pool of several specialties, from which they could choose only those that were represented in a particular organization. For example, the biggest problem was with technical specialists: 42% of respondents said they had an acute shortage.

The situation is slightly better for customer service professionals. Of all companies hiring these professionals, 23% are experiencing staff shortages. The least difficulty is expected in the IT sector, but it also exists.

These pressures do not go unnoticed by employees. They affect the efficiency of sales and the speed of business expansion.