BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 103

Worker Shortage Challenges

In Wave 103, businesses were asked about how their businesses have been affected by a shortage of workers – the specific question asked is shown below.

Worker Shortage Challenges question: Which of the following challenges, if any, has your business experienced due to a shortage of workers?

• employees working increased hours
• had to pause trading entirely
• had to pause trading of some of the business
• had to recruit temporary workers
• unable to meet demands
• other
• not sure
• business has not experienced any challenges due to a shortage of workers

Figure 1:  In Wave 103, 21.6% of businesses reported that a shortage of workers has resulted in employees working increased hours. The next most commonly reported impacts were that businesses had to recruit temporary workers (13.1%) and were unable to meet demands (8.5%). However, the majority of businesses (54.3%) reported that they had not experienced any challenges due to a shortage of workers.

Estimated share of businesses by worker shortage challenge. Businesses not permanently stopped trading, with 10+ employees and a presence in Scotland. Wave 103 - 19 February to 3 March 2024.

Source: BICS Weighted Scotland Estimates - Wave 103 from the Scottish Government. For Figure 1 data see table ‘WorkerShortageChallenge’.