Language proficiency is no longer among the most demanded skills by companies in the Canary Islands when hiring. Knowledge of another language is not part of the most valued skills by employers to fill the currently vacant positions in the Archipelago. A few years ago, English proficiency was almost a default requirement, even for positions where it may not have been essential, but now it is overlooked in many job offers. Employers seem to appreciate candidates having certain personal skills such as teamwork, stress management, and interpersonal skills more than the knowledge of a second language.
In fact, only 8% of those surveyed for the study Skills and Qualifications Needs in Companies in the Canary Islands – conducted by the Provincial Confederation of Entrepreneurs of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (CEOE-Tenerife) – stated that speaking a language other than Spanish was a decisive aspect when it comes to filling the positions for which they cannot find personnel. While 53% believe that what candidates lack the most are precisely those soft skills or cross-cutting competencies, which they claim are the Achilles’ heel of many job seekers in the Archipelago.
Collaboration, learning ability, motivation, and responsibility and engagement are some of the aspects most valued by employers in the Islands. Sometimes, even more so than the technical and formative aspects required for the job. “I think that most of the technical issues can be learned with a good attitude and skills,” highlighted a comment included in the report by an entrepreneur in the financial sector, for whom the most important thing “is that people have the skills and competencies, the attitude to learn, adapt, take on responsibilities, and be flexible.” He pointed out that, in fact, if the applicant possessed these qualities, the necessary training could be provided in many cases by the companies themselves.
The gap between the skills required and those of the candidates hinders recruitment
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Another employer highlighted the difficulties they are facing in hiring young candidates with the necessary cross-cutting skills. “The biggest dilemma we are facing, especially with young people, is their personal skills,” he acknowledged.
Many seem to agree on the difficulty of finding job seekers who meet the needs of the vacant positions. Canarian companies created over half a million jobs just last year. Specifically, 527,000. Although only 25% of them were for new occupations, as most were due to the need to cover absences, sabbaticals, or retirements.
Despite this demand for labour and the fact that there are still 167,000 unemployed people in the Archipelago, six out of ten companies reported serious difficulties in meeting the needs of their workforce last year. Currently, eight out of ten claim to have complications in filling the job positions they release to the market.
Among the reasons identified for this difficulty in finding personnel, 39% pointed to the lack of candidates. In a region where the service sector is responsible for the majority of jobs created, employers believe that many of the unemployed in the Islands avoid commerce and catering due to schedule difficulties and a perceived lack of career prospects.
Other aspects that impact the difficulty in finding personnel according to employers are that candidates expect a higher salary than they can afford and others point to the underground economy. 19% highlight the lack of required cross-cutting skills, and 18% mention a lack of qualifications or the necessary educational level to perform the job, while 12% argue that candidates are not interested in the working conditions they offer.
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To bridge the gap between the skills companies seek to join their workforce and the deficiencies of the candidates, employers have taken increasing training within their own structure as the first step. Up to 49% state that they have strengthened this aspect, while 23% have increased supervision of their staff to try to fix it.
Training Programmes to Hunt for New Talents
Canarian employers acknowledge that they use the training programmes that university or vocational education students undertake in different companies in the Archipelago as a way to discover new talents and retain them. The study Skills and Qualifications Needs in Companies in the Canary Islands – conducted by CEOE-Tenerife – reveals that for many companies, this is their main source of recruitment. The period in which students train as interns is used as a test, precisely to determine, not so much the training, but those personal skills that are now in high demand by companies. For some, these account for 85% of their subsequent hires and are seen as a way to assess the value of these future workers. However, they also point out that during the internship period, extra organizational effort is required, as it is not easy to balance mentoring with the day-to-day of the companies and ensure that the internships are effective. | D.G.
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