The Manpower Group recently announced that the global talent shortage has reached a 7-year high. Their 9th Annual Talent Shortage Survey results show that 36% of global employers are having difficulty finding candidates that possess the desired technical competencies and experience with soft skills. The percentage of employers citing difficulty in the US is 40%. Manpower's CEO, Jonas Prising, said, "For nearly a decade skilled trades and STEM positions are among the top 10 hardest jobs to fill, both globally and in the US."

Skilled trades remain the hardest-to-fill position on Manpower's list, for the 5th consecutive year. However, there were other changes among the top jobs listed. Restaurant and Hotel Staff, Nurses, as well as Laborers are new to the list. Engineers, Drivers, and IT have each moved down the list, being outranked by other hard-to-fill jobs. Management, Technicians, and Mechanics are no longer among the top 10. Here is a comparison of Manpower's hardest jobs to fill in the US for 2014 and 2013. 

Manpower's Hardest Jobs to Fill in the US

With 40% of employers surveyed experiencing challenges recruiting these jobs, we thought we'd share the cities that currently present the best recruiting conditions for these fields. The WANTED Analytics Hiring Scale factors in the supply of candidates, hiring demand, location, occupation, unemployment rates, and salaries to determine a score. The Hiring Scale score ranges from 1 to 99 with 99 indicating hardest-to-fill. The cities listed below have the lowest Hiring Scale scores for each position. 

Best Cities to Recruit Manpower's Hardest-to-Fill Jobs in the US 

Source: WANTED Analytics

Results will vary by specific occupation and location. If you would like to see this data for specific jobs and areas, learn how you can find that information here.  

Do you agree with Manpower's list? What jobs have been hard for you to fill?