In the UK from my perspective (major airline) there is a shortage of skilled labour. This has resulted in recent years in a number of Far Eastern contractors being employed to fill the gap.
Compared to the USA we have a much smaller pool of experienced/skilled staff to draw from. This is partially due to the reduction to almost zero of an aircraft industry and the number of Forces leavers drying-up. In addition, most youngsters perceive any job which involves getting your hands dirty as "un-cool" If you factor in the number in the industry due to retire in the next 5 – 10 years there are serious problems ahead!