2026 Talent Shortage Survey Reveals Surge in AI Skills Demand
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Feb 26 2026
0mins
Should l Buy MAN?
Source: Newsfilter
- Rising Demand for AI Skills: The 2026 Talent Shortage Survey by ManpowerGroup reveals that 72% of employers report hiring difficulties, with AI skills surpassing traditional engineering and IT capabilities for the first time, indicating a significant shift in the global talent landscape that necessitates accelerated upskilling efforts by companies.
- New Technical Demand Hierarchy: AI model and application development (20%) and AI literacy (19%) now lead the global ranking of hard-to-find skills, displacing traditional IT and data skills, which highlights a rapid strategic realignment of talent investment towards AI-driven capabilities that will shape future workforce strategies.
- Enduring Value of Human Skills: Despite the surge in AI demand, core human skills such as communication, collaboration, and teamwork remain highly sought after, with 39% of employers prioritizing these attributes, reinforcing the lasting importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace.
- Geographic Variability in Talent Scarcity: Employers in Germany (83%), France (74%), and the U.K. (73%) experience significant talent shortages, while the U.S. (69%) tracks slightly below the global average, illustrating the stark differences in talent demand and competitive strategies across various regions.
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Analyst Views on MAN
Wall Street analysts forecast MAN stock price to rise
7 Analyst Rating
1 Buy
5 Hold
1 Sell
Hold
Current: 28.700
Low
27.00
Averages
38.80
High
44.00
Current: 28.700
Low
27.00
Averages
38.80
High
44.00
About MAN
ManpowerGroup Inc. is a global workforce solutions company. The Company offers a comprehensive range of workforce solutions and services, which include recruitment and assessment; upskilling, reskilling, training and development; career management; outsourcing, and workforce consulting. Its portfolio of recruitment services includes permanent, temporary and contract recruitment of professionals, as well as administrative, industrial and information technology (IT) professional positions. These services are provided under its Manpower and Experis brands. Its Talent Solutions brand specializes in the delivery of customized workforce strategies and new solutions and creating added value that addresses its clients' complex global workforce needs. Its Talent Solutions combine global offerings of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), TAPFIN - Managed Service Provider (MSP), and right management to provide data-driven capabilities that help organizations with their workforce transformation.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Sector Contribution Analysis: The education and health services sector led job creation with 58,000 new positions, while construction added 19,000, although most other sectors showed stagnant growth, highlighting the breadth issue in employment gains.
- Wage Growth Trends: Wage growth for job stayers remained steady at 4.5%, while the increase for job switchers fell to 6.3%, indicating that the incentive to change jobs has dropped to the lowest level since ADP began tracking this metric, potentially affecting future job mobility.
- Small Business Performance: Job gains were primarily concentrated in small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, which added 60,000 jobs, while large firms (500 or more employees) only added 10,000, reflecting the relative dynamism of small businesses in the current economic environment.
See More
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- Addressing Recruitment Challenges: With 72% of employers globally struggling to find qualified talent, ManpowerGroup leverages AI-driven structured interviews to help organizations effectively engage qualified candidates, meeting both current and future hiring demands.
- Enhanced Candidate Experience: Hubert's technology enables candidates to interview at flexible times, ensuring that every candidate receives a fair and consistent assessment experience, thus improving accessibility and equity in the hiring process.
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See More
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- Efficiency Boost: With Hubert's structured interviews, ManpowerGroup can identify qualified candidates earlier in the process, enabling organizations to secure critical talent faster while candidates receive quicker feedback, significantly enhancing satisfaction in the hiring process.
- Fairness and Transparency: This collaboration ensures that every candidate is evaluated against the same transparent standards, reducing bias in hiring decisions and promoting a more equitable recruitment process that meets businesses' demands for precision and fairness.
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See More
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- Global Partnership: ManpowerGroup has formed a global partnership with AI interviewing pioneer Hubert to enhance hiring experiences through responsible AI, ensuring recruiters remain central to every decision, thereby strengthening the company's competitive edge in the talent market.
- Efficiency Boost: With Hubert's structured AI interviews, ManpowerGroup can identify qualified candidates earlier in the process, enabling organizations to secure critical talent faster while candidates receive quicker feedback, significantly shortening the hiring cycle.
- Fairness and Transparency: The new system evaluates every candidate against consistent standards, reducing bias in hiring decisions and ensuring that each candidate receives a fair and consistent assessment experience, thus enhancing the equity of the recruitment process.
- Around-the-Clock Engagement: More than 60% of candidates complete interviews outside traditional office hours, providing flexibility that not only increases candidate engagement but also helps organizations access qualified talent sooner than competitors.
See More
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- Global Partnership: ManpowerGroup has formed a global partnership with AI interviewing pioneer Hubert to enhance hiring experiences through responsible AI, ensuring recruiters remain central to every decision, thereby boosting competitiveness in the talent market.
- Efficiency Boost: With Hubert's structured AI interviews, ManpowerGroup can identify qualified candidates earlier, enabling organizations to secure critical talent faster while candidates receive quicker feedback, thus enhancing recruitment efficiency.
- Fairness and Transparency: The new system evaluates every candidate against consistent standards, reducing bias in hiring decisions and ensuring that each candidate receives a fair and consistent assessment, thereby enhancing the equity of the recruitment process.
- Flexible Candidate Engagement: More than 60% of candidates complete interviews outside traditional office hours, providing flexible participation options that allow organizations to access qualified talent before competitors, thus improving the timeliness and effectiveness of hiring.
See More
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- Intensified Talent Competition: The competition for skilled AI professionals is becoming increasingly fierce, leading to rising salary levels for high-skilled talent, which in turn increases human resource costs for companies and affects overall profitability.
- Innovation vs. Implementation Dilemma: Despite the rapid pace of technological innovation, the lack of sufficient talent to implement these innovations may prevent companies from fully leveraging their technology investments, thereby impacting market performance and long-term strategic goals.
- Future Development Direction: Companies need to reassess their talent strategies by investing in training and attracting new talent to address this challenge, ensuring they remain competitive in the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence.
See More
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- Job Growth Overview: According to the ADP report, the private sector added a seasonally adjusted 63,000 jobs in February, a significant improvement from the revised 11,000 in January and surpassing the Dow Jones estimate of 48,000, indicating resilience in the labor market.
- Sector Contribution Analysis: The education and health services sector led job creation with 58,000 new positions, while construction added 19,000, although most other sectors showed stagnant growth, highlighting the breadth issue in employment gains.
- Wage Growth Trends: Wage growth for job stayers remained steady at 4.5%, while the increase for job switchers fell to 6.3%, indicating that the incentive to change jobs has dropped to the lowest level since ADP began tracking this metric, potentially affecting future job mobility.
- Small Business Performance: Job gains were primarily concentrated in small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, which added 60,000 jobs, while large firms (500 or more employees) only added 10,000, reflecting the relative dynamism of small businesses in the current economic environment.
See More
ManpowerGroup Partners with Hubert to Enhance Hiring Practices
- Global Partnership: ManpowerGroup has formed a global partnership with AI interviewing pioneer Hubert to enhance hiring experiences through responsible AI, allowing recruiters to focus on interpersonal relationships and potential assessment, thereby improving fairness and transparency in hiring.
- Addressing Recruitment Challenges: With 72% of employers globally struggling to find qualified talent, ManpowerGroup leverages AI-driven structured interviews to help organizations effectively engage qualified candidates, meeting both current and future hiring demands.
- Enhanced Candidate Experience: Hubert's technology enables candidates to interview at flexible times, ensuring that every candidate receives a fair and consistent assessment experience, thus improving accessibility and equity in the hiring process.
- Future Expansion Plans: ManpowerGroup plans to expand its partnership with Hubert throughout 2026, integrating potential-based assessments and personalized career development to further strengthen its AI-powered ecosystem aimed at enhancing workforce resilience and confidence.
See More
ManpowerGroup Partners with Hubert for Fair Hiring
- Global Partnership: ManpowerGroup has formed a global partnership with AI interview pioneer Hubert to enhance hiring efficiency through responsible AI, allowing recruiters to focus on interpersonal relationships and potential assessment, thereby maintaining competitiveness in the global talent market.
- Efficiency Boost: With Hubert's structured interviews, ManpowerGroup can identify qualified candidates earlier in the process, enabling organizations to secure critical talent faster while candidates receive quicker feedback, significantly enhancing satisfaction in the hiring process.
- Fairness and Transparency: This collaboration ensures that every candidate is evaluated against the same transparent standards, reducing bias in hiring decisions and promoting a more equitable recruitment process that meets businesses' demands for precision and fairness.
- Around-the-Clock Engagement: More than 60% of candidates complete interviews outside traditional office hours, providing flexibility that not only increases candidate engagement but also helps organizations access qualified talent earlier in the competitive landscape, thereby improving recruitment efficiency.
See More
ManpowerGroup Partners with Hubert to Enhance AI-Powered Hiring
- Global Partnership: ManpowerGroup has formed a global partnership with AI interviewing pioneer Hubert to enhance hiring experiences through responsible AI, ensuring recruiters remain central to every decision, thereby strengthening the company's competitive edge in the talent market.
- Efficiency Boost: With Hubert's structured AI interviews, ManpowerGroup can identify qualified candidates earlier in the process, enabling organizations to secure critical talent faster while candidates receive quicker feedback, significantly shortening the hiring cycle.
- Fairness and Transparency: The new system evaluates every candidate against consistent standards, reducing bias in hiring decisions and ensuring that each candidate receives a fair and consistent assessment experience, thus enhancing the equity of the recruitment process.
- Around-the-Clock Engagement: More than 60% of candidates complete interviews outside traditional office hours, providing flexibility that not only increases candidate engagement but also helps organizations access qualified talent sooner than competitors.
See More
ManpowerGroup Partners with Hubert to Enhance AI-Powered Hiring
- Global Partnership: ManpowerGroup has formed a global partnership with AI interviewing pioneer Hubert to enhance hiring experiences through responsible AI, ensuring recruiters remain central to every decision, thereby boosting competitiveness in the talent market.
- Efficiency Boost: With Hubert's structured AI interviews, ManpowerGroup can identify qualified candidates earlier, enabling organizations to secure critical talent faster while candidates receive quicker feedback, thus enhancing recruitment efficiency.
- Fairness and Transparency: The new system evaluates every candidate against consistent standards, reducing bias in hiring decisions and ensuring that each candidate receives a fair and consistent assessment, thereby enhancing the equity of the recruitment process.
- Flexible Candidate Engagement: More than 60% of candidates complete interviews outside traditional office hours, providing flexible participation options that allow organizations to access qualified talent before competitors, thus improving the timeliness and effectiveness of hiring.
See More
Talent Shortage Challenges AI Deployment
- Industry Transformation: As artificial intelligence transitions from experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment, the technology sector now faces the challenge of talent acquisition rather than innovation access, which could impact companies' technological advancements and market competitiveness.
- Intensified Talent Competition: The competition for skilled AI professionals is becoming increasingly fierce, leading to rising salary levels for high-skilled talent, which in turn increases human resource costs for companies and affects overall profitability.
- Innovation vs. Implementation Dilemma: Despite the rapid pace of technological innovation, the lack of sufficient talent to implement these innovations may prevent companies from fully leveraging their technology investments, thereby impacting market performance and long-term strategic goals.
- Future Development Direction: Companies need to reassess their talent strategies by investing in training and attracting new talent to address this challenge, ensuring they remain competitive in the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence.
See More
