Nearly 14 million Americans are unemployed. Yet many businesses find it tough to fill highly skilled or even semi-skilled jobs. Why? How can firms nab these hard-to-find workers, whose supply can't meet the demand?

A survey of 1,300 U.S. employers by the global employment firm Manpower Group, says that 52% of businesses are having problems recruiting engineers, accountants and IT specialists. In addition, skilled tradesmen such as welders, steamfitters, tool and die makers, and even sales staff, secretaries and administrative assistants with the right skills are proving hard to find.

Some companies are taking the initiative to train skilled workers rather than relying on online ads. This drives in the point that when the supply of skilled tradesmen can't meet demand, firms must create their own opportunities.

A Hirer's Market

In this economy, companies can hunt for the perfect employee and wait until they get what they're hunting for, says Jeff Joeress, CEO of the Milwaukee-based Manpower Group. Hence, many employers just don't want skilled workers. They want a welder who knows about work flow, collaborates well and partners with global staff.

"The result," Joeress says, "is a talent conundrum: High unemployment but longer terms to fill many jobs."

Companies pay a price in not being able to hire skilled staffers. "If these positions are wealth-creating and absolutely critical to success, it can hurt the competitiveness of an organization globally. You need the best possible talent in critical roles," said Paula Caligiuri, author of "Managing the Global Workforce."

"Getting hired is about possessing the right skills. Many people apply to be a sales or customer service rep, but finding people who can do the job well isn't easy," Caligiuri said. A sales staffer for a drug firm must possess industry know-how, superior communicating skills, and be an authentic and credible salesperson, which are complex abilities.

Analysts say one reason why there's a scarcity of skilled tradesmen in the U.S. stems from parental pressure for students to get four-year college degrees. Though carpenters, bricklayers and cabinetmakers can make a good living, parents "prefer they get a history degree from a college. I call that the waiter degree," Joeress quipped.

Advanced Technology Services, or ATS, provides outsourcing maintenance for equipment to Caterpillar (CAT), BorgWarner (BWA) and Motorola (MMI). It split off from Caterpillar and went private in 1996.

ATS couldn't find enough skilled tradesmen including machine and electrical repairers to meet its needs, says Jeff Owens, president of Peoria, Ill.-based ATS. Because of the decline in manufacturing, few young people pursue these crafts, and baby boomers are retiring in greater numbers.

Internet advertising didn't identify skilled tradesmen. Going to plant closings didn't prove effective. The void couldn't be filled. Finally ATS decided that "we had to grow our own people," he said.

In 2006, ATS collaborated with Illinois Central College, a community college in East Peoria, Ill., and Greenville Tech in Greenville, S.C. It launched a 40-week "Multi-Skilled Technical Career Program" to train skilled mechanics. Students must take math, aptitude and manufacturing tests to get in. ATS encourages them to earn associate's degrees and four-year degrees after finishing the program.

Owens calls the program "a New Age apprenticeship program" because students don't specialize in one area. Students are trained to be "multiskilled and take care of anything including repairing industrial and electrical equipment. Technology has changed, so hybrid skills are required," he said.

To support the program, ATS offers scholarships to children of its employees and customers and subsidizes other students as well. It accepts about 100 students a year and hires 86% of them at ATS as entry-level machinists, starting at about $30,000 annually. After three to five years, they can become skilled technicians and earn $40,000 to $60,000 with benefits.

A Locale Problem

The other problem locating skilled tradesman concerns geography. If natural gas and oil companies in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming need welders and plumbers, they're going to have a harder time finding them than companies in California and Florida, where many machinists sit idle due to construction slowdowns.

Skilled machinists aren't the only jobs changing. Most secretaries and administrative assistants must have complex computer skills, handle PowerPoint, juggle 10 executives, not one, handle travel schedules and communicate with overseas partners.

Firms can't just operate in the same old way, taking classified ads in newspapers or via job boards like Monster online, Joeress says. They have to use social networking to communicate with future employees, attend affinity groups, and coordinate with community colleges specializing in trade programs. Otherwise, that "help wanted" sign won't be put away.