BICS weighted Scotland estimates: data to wave 121

Latest main findings for businesses with 10+ employees and a presence in Scotland

• an estimated 16.9% of businesses had difficulties recruiting ‘Skilled, manual or technical’ employees in October 2024, and 14.5% had difficulty recruiting 'Semi-skilled or unskilled' employees; however, 51.9% of businesses did not experience difficulties recruiting employees
• for businesses that had recruitment difficulties in October 2024, the most common reason was a lack of qualified applicants for the roles on offer; an estimated 48.6% of businesses with recruitment difficulties had this issue
• a shortage of workers had resulted in employees working increased hours for an estimated 24.3% of businesses; however more than half of businesses (52.4%) had not experienced any challenges due to a shortage of workers
• the sectors with the highest shares using or intending to use increased home working as a permanent business model going forward were ‘Information & Communication’ (34.6%) and ‘Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities’ (34.4%)
• improved staff wellbeing was the most common reason for businesses using or intending to use increased homeworking as a permanent business model – an estimated 69.1% of such businesses gave this as a reason
• the most common reason for businesses not using or intending to use increased homeworking as a permanent business model was homeworking not being suitable for the business - an estimated 82.5% of such businesses cited this as a reason

Note that the next BICS Scotland publication, with data to Wave 122, is scheduled for release on Friday 20 December 2024.