There is a global shortage of talent
This is part three of the Revive & Innovate: Vision for the Future blog series, written by Soundings Founder & CEO Tracy Judge, MS, CMP. Follow Soundings on LinkedIn to stay up to date on all of our posts!
Job descriptions are now flexible. The event industry needs a stronger focus on skill sets rather than roles.
It’s no secret that the event industry was among the most impacted industries during the pandemic. As reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Workforce Statistics, the Leisure and Hospitality (L&H) industry experienced a surge in job quits in 2020-2021. Of the total 4.5 million Americans who quit their jobs, 860,000 were L&H workers. 90% of event professionals saw some or most of their business gone as of March 2020, according to EventMB.
The takeaway: the pandemic encouraged millions of people to reevaluate their work conditions and consider what they truly love to do.
The rise in voluntary attrition in the industry differs from spikes in the past. Most workers are indefinitely leaving full-time jobs or the workforce altogether.
In this article, we’ll explore the impact this talent shortage has on the industry, what it means for the future of the industry, and how we can solve for it.
Implications in the industry
I saw the impact of the talent shortage during my travels to industry events in Europe and North America. At Cvent CONNECT Europe, Karen Kadin, Managing Partner of global experiential communications agency Brands at Work, shared that she saw industry professionals of 15-20 years working as executive producers, logistic directors, and content pros forced to exit the industry because there was no work for them to do. Then, when events began to return, it was difficult to find people to work.
“I remember when things started to really quickly ramp up. I was making calls to people that had been go-to resources for years and they had said, ‘Oh, sorry, I'm not in the industry anymore.’”– Karen Kadin
Karen also spoke to the increasing cost of labor as a current talent challenge. “We're having to deal with increasing costs of not only a staff base, but a freelance base, and then additional operating costs, materials, and you name it.” Karen said her company is being more transparent than ever when working with clients to address this: “You don’t want to work with an agency that’s going to go out of business...I think it's really important work in partnership with the clients to help share that load of it.”
Empowering the younger generation
PCMA President and CEO Sherrif Karamat spoke about how to solve for the talent shortage at the Convening EMEA 2022 conference; he said it is up to us to restore the talent pool. He urged organizations to empower younger generations of talent and invest in them to fill the deficit.
According to Sherrif, one way that organizations can do this is by incorporating internship programs to get the next generation involved.
“There is no better industry than this industry...and we need to expose our industry to other people so that they not just want to but WILL get involved with us.” – Sherrif Karamat
Soundings has taken this opportunity to engage the younger generation to heart by leading a Young Leaders Program. We interact with hospitality, events, marketing, and business programs at universities across the country to meet students, educate them on the events industry, and introduce the possibilities of freelancing as a post-graduation career path or even a chance to gain paid industry experience while in school. In addition, we host young leaders' specific events and webinars for our Soundings Thrive community, and we connect young talent in our Thrive network with our customers for freelance opportunities.
Addressing the skill gap
The skills gap is another critical component of the global talent shortage.
According to the Global Advisor on Staffing and Workforce solutions, SIA, “More than three quarters, or 68%, of small to medium-sized enterprises in the UK are facing skills shortages with the figure rising to 86% for large organizations.”
Skills gaps continue to be high, as in-demand skills across jobs will continue to change. A recent study found that the average half-life of a skill is five years. In other words, the value of a skill will become half as valuable in five years' time, so talent must continually upskill and reskill to keep up with industry changes and stay relevant.
Soft skills enhance expertise
With this in mind, talent’s soft skills are valuable strengths that should not be overlooked. Combined with professional expertise, soft skills enable talent to drive impactful results and innovation. That's why we focus greatly on our talent’s strengths at Soundings. We use the CliftonStrengths Assessment to identify individuals’ strengths. Then we use that information to compatibly match talent with companies where they’ll thrive.
Prioritize skills training
Job descriptions are now flexible. The event industry needs a stronger focus on skill sets rather than roles. Organizations can support this by integrating internal programs to upskill teams – both current and new team members. Programs that promote youth are especially beneficial to train and mentor the younger generation – we need them! By prioritizing skills training now, you will be prepared for the future of events.
As Fay Sharpe OBE, founder of Fast Forward 15®, put it at Cvent CONNECT Europe, “I fully expect our industry to go through a full transformation over the next two years. Will flexi freelance be the new norm?”
Creative solutions
Here are a few creative solutions from industry leaders to address the talent and skill shortage:
Tourism Ireland launched a national media campaign ‘Works for Me’ to address Ireland's current staffing challenges. It targets parents and retirees, which is a key element of Fáilte Ireland’s overall multi-faceted tourism careers strategy to support the tourism industry.
PCMA 20 in their 20’s recognizes bright and talented global professionals from the next generation of business events leaders. Along with global recognition, winners receive access to career resources including: a scholarship to participate in Convening Leaders, PCMA’s annual signature event, complimentary registration to PCMA’s EduCon event, PCMA membership and access to PCMA educational products. I’m thrilled to share that Soundings Chief of Staff Nikki Gonzales was recognized as one of the 2022 winners!
At Soundings, we are expecting digital to make a comeback as a result of the impending recession. We are preparing our talent network for this shift by providing them with exclusive access to industry standard training. More than 80% of our talent network has acquired new certifications, attended one of our Platform Playground or Reskill & Revive webinars, or added a new industry skillset to their member profiles since April 2020.
Agile talent solutions
While upskilling and re-skilling talent is important to address the talent shortage and skills gap, a downside is that training can be expensive and time-consuming. One option to supplement this demand is to leverage the skilled freelance workforce. These industry professionals are already experts in the skillsets you need. Incorporating an agile staffing model can help you get the talent you need when you need it – without losing time training your team.
If you’re interested in learning more about what an agile staffing strategy looks like for your organization, I'd love to connect!
Next Steps
Questions
How are you addressing the skills gap in the industry?
Do you see an opportunity to include agile staffing in your talent structure?
How can you address current and future talent needs in your organization?
Resources
I've curated a list of resources to aid your efforts in addressing the talent shortage. Access the resources list here.