Businesses struggling to recruit labour

While there is no new data on businesses struggling to recruit labour locally, feedback from business, industry and public agencies consistently highlights difficulties in recruitment and retention of staff, with particular difficulties noted in health, social care, construction, engineering, hospitality, processing, tourism and transportation. 

The Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) business panel survey (March 2025) highlighted that 47% of employers in the Highlands and Islands region had a skills gap. The top three barriers to getting skilled staff were listed as: 

• Required skills were in short supply
• Location of the business
• Lack of accommodation.

Locally, anecdotal evidence suggests that opportunities are often challenging because businesses do not know where the labour will come from to allow expansion. 

Promote Shetland are working to attract people into hard-to-fill professions, for example teaching, social care, dentists, doctors and planners. Skills Development Scotland reported that from 1st April to 27th September 2024 they supported 85 Modern Apprenticeship starts and that 75.9% of these were aged 16-24. 

Last updated: April 2025