43% of SMEs have difficulty finding specialized staff
Industry & EmploymentEuropean Union
- Omissions
- The exact figure from Eurobarometer surveys is 42%, not 43% - this represents a 1 percentage point difference.
- The data cited appears to be from 2023 Flash Eurobarometer 529 on 'Skills shortages, recruitment and retention strategies in small and medium-sized enterprises', which would be over two years old at the time of the January 2026 claim.
- More recent data from April 2024 indicates that 54% of EU SMEs identified difficulties in finding employees with the right skills as one of their top three most serious problems, suggesting the situation may have worsened.
- The claim uses 'specialized staff' while the Eurobarometer survey refers to 'qualified staff' or 'staff with the right skills' - these are closely related but not identical concepts.
- Sources
- SecondaryEuropean Sting42% of European SMEs indicated they faced shortages of qualified staff (Flash Eurobarometer data)
- SecondaryGrant Office Athena UniversityAlmost a half (42%) of European SMEs indicated they faced shortages of qualified staff
- SecondaryEuronews54% of SMEs in the EU identified difficulties in finding employees with the right skills as one of the top three most serious problems