Businesses, struggling for employees - Which sectors are most affected in Europe?
Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the workplace, and the European market is struggling to keep up. According to the Global Talent Shortage Report 2026 from global human resources firm Manpower, artificial intelligence and IT emerge as some of the most difficult roles for employers and recruiters to fill.
The study, conducted in 41 countries and with 39,000 employers, highlights that around seven in 10 businesses have difficulty finding the right person for a range of roles.
The mismatch between supply and demand has increased significantly over the past decade. From about 40% of managers having difficulty recruiting employees in 2006 to 72% in 2026, the rate increased significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic. When it comes to specific sectors, recruiting is most difficult in areas such as IT (75%), hospitality (74%), healthcare (74%), and scientific and technical services (73%).
Large companies — those with 1,000 or more employees — face the biggest problems overall, with a talent shortage rate of at least 74%.
In terms of the most in-demand skills, in the UK and much of Europe, the focus is entirely on IT and AI. British businesses need people who can use artificial intelligence models (19%), develop applications (17%) or who have traditional IT and data skills (17%).
France also lacks artificial intelligence (19%) and people skilled in IT and data (16%) — but it also needs staff with manufacturing skills (16%), and a similar picture is in countries like Germany, Italy and Spain.
However, it's not just about artificial intelligence. For example, Sweden (26%), the Netherlands (28%), the Czech Republic (31%) and Slovakia (31%) want more engineers.
At the same time, logistics turned out to be one of the most difficult fields to recruit in Belgium (19%), Ireland (18%) and Norway (18%), while Greece appears to be the only country with a high need for Human Resources professionals (21%).
Interestingly, the way most business leaders intend to address the talent shortage is by looking internally first rather than hiring externally. The most common response to solving the shortage, according to the research, is “upskilling and retraining current employees” (27%), followed by other internal solutions, such as introducing more flexible working hours (20%) and higher salaries (19%).
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