It should not come as any great surprise to learn that the UK Rail Industry is currently experiencing a significant skills shortage, a shortage that is threatening the very renaissance currently underway. This is leading to an inflationary pressure on salaries, as everyone tries to poach staff from each other to fill their needs. One solution to this problem is to 'locate' more of the highly skilled professionals that the industry needs, which would enable growth without the inflationary wage pressures - easier said than done!

As with any dynamic situation, one of the bigger challenges is being able to differentiate between the hype about a skills shortage and the real needs of the rail industry. Fortunately, as a recruitment consultancy specialising in the rail Industry, Resourcing Solutions is only too aware of the continuing demands for talent across the industry and are in a position to see the 'big picture'.
Based upon analysis by the company of the market and feedback from its clients, it produced a Demand Analysis Table for the main skill groups in the UK Rail Industry. (Where the higher the rating - the higher the demand for the skill and the more difficult to supply, with 10 being the most difficult.) The following factors were all considered when developing the table:
* Number of vacancies.
* Number of candidates that could be placed 'today'.
* Appreciation of client demand for skills now, over and above placed vacancies.
m Appreciation of client demand for skills for the next six months.
Having clearly identified the issues of 'demand', Resourcing Solutions then undertook extensive research into the issues of supply, in order to define how the skill shortages could be solved. It quickly became clear that the 'international option' was one that offered a high-quality solution for our clients in the UK.
Most recently our search for a solution has taken us to Southern Africa, and it is currently conducting detailed research into the Indian market place. To date, it has been able to bring more than 50 highly skilled international rail professionals into the UK.
There are a number of excellent training initiatives currently underway in the UK Rail Industry, which will help to solve the skills shortages, but these generally have long lead times. In the short and medium term, Resourcing Solutions believes that international recruitment has a very significant role to play in the growth of the UK Rail Industry.

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Resourcing Solutions Ltd is based in Ruscombe, Berkshire. www.resourcing-solutions.com