It seems odd. In the world's most populous region the biggest problem facing employers is a shortage of people.
Asia has more than half the planet's inhabitants and is home to many of the world's fastest-growing economies. But some businesses are being forced to reconsider just how quickly they will be able to grow, because they cannot find enough people with the skills they need.
In a recent survey, 600 Chief executives of multinational companies with businesses across Asia were interviewed.{{U}} (8) {{/U}}It was their second-biggest headache in Japan (after cultural differences) and the fourth-biggest in India (after problems with infrastructure,bureaucracy and wage inflation) . Across almost every industry and sector it was the same.
Old Asia-hands may find it easy to understand why there is such concern. The region's rapid economic growth has fished out the pool of available talent, they would say.{{U}} (9) {{/U}}Recent growth in many parts of Asia has been so great that it has rapidly transformed the type of skills needed by businesses. Schools and universities have been unable to keep up.
This is especially true for professional staff. Airlines are one example. Many new carriers are setting up and airlines are offering more services to meet demand. {{U}}(10) {{/U}}According to Alteon Training, the commercial-pilot training arm of Boeing, India has fewer than 3000 pilots today but will need more than 12000 by 2025. China will need to find an average of 2200 new pilots a year just to keep up with the growth in air travel,which means it will need more than 40000 pilots by 2025. In the meantime, with big international airlines training only a few hundred pilots a year, Asian airlines have taken to poaching them, often from each other.
{{U}} (11) {{/U}}China has been trying to lure pilots from Brazil, among other places.
With such a mismatch between supply and demand in Asia's labour markets, companies will have to become better at hiring good staff and keeping them. The first priority is to realize that retention is more important than recruitment. But as some companies will always be better at this than others, the job-hopping and poaching are set to continue for many years, until education and training catch up.{{U}} (12) {{/U}}Without talented recruiting policies, some firms may end up scaling back their bold Asian growth-plans.
A．However, there is also a failure of education.
B．Philippine Airlines, for instance, lost 75 pilots to overseas airlines during the past three years.
C．As it turned out, they ranked a shortage of qualified staff as their biggest concern in China and South-east Asia.
D．There is also a severe shortage of good managers.
E．The consequences of that are depressing and will limit the growth.
F．But, in the meantime, there is a dreadful shortage of pilots.
G．Asia has more than half the planet's inhabitants and is home to many of the world's fastest-growing economies.