Your ERP project is locked in for Q2. The scoping is approved, the budget is signed, the integrator is contracted. Then, sixty days before go-live, your ERP project manager resigns to join a competitor. The scenario is depressingly common in 2026. What blocks ERP projects today is no longer budget or technology — it is human capital.
This article maps the current state of the ERP talent market and sets out five concrete strategies for mid-market CIOs: recruiting despite the shortage, retaining consultants and key users, building internal skills, outsourcing intelligently, and — most importantly — planning 12 to 18 months ahead.
The market reality: why the ERP talent shortage is getting worse in 2026
The tension around ERP profiles is not new, but in 2026 it has reached a structural level. Three dynamics are converging simultaneously.
Deadline convergence is creating impossibly concentrated demand
SAP ECC mainstream support ends on 31 December 2027 (SavicTech). Yet only around 39% of the 35,000 ECC customers had started their S/4HANA migration by late 2024 (SavicTech). The remaining 61% must launch and complete a project that typically takes 18 to 36 months — in a window of less than 18 months. The arithmetic does not work.
Add to this the e-invoicing mandates rolling out across Europe under the ViDA directive and national legislation, the Dynamics 365 migration wave driven by Dynamics AX and NAV end-of-support, and the rise of agentic AI — which demands ERP architects capable of orchestrating AI workflows, a profile that remains exceptionally rare in 2026.
The profiles that are hardest to find
Certain ERP profiles have become near-impossible to fill in under eight weeks across most European markets:
- SAP S/4HANA architects and senior ABAP developers: the talent pool trained in the 1990s and 2000s is retiring over this decade.
- Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations consultants: the mass migration from Dynamics AX has created demand that Microsoft certifications alone cannot satisfy.
- Experienced Odoo developers (three years or more): Odoo’s rapid international growth has outpaced the formation of senior profiles.
- E-invoicing specialists (Peppol, EN 16931, national implementations): a cross-ERP competency now required on virtually every European project.
According to a Hays study cited on marqueemployeur.com, 13% of companies report extreme skills shortages and 48% report moderate shortages — meaning nine companies in ten are experiencing a skills deficit to some degree.
International competition is draining the European talent pool
ERP consultants based in Western Europe are actively recruited by clients in the UK, Switzerland, and the Middle East, offering freelance daily rates 20 to 40% above local standards. The result: the market tightens under demand pressure and simultaneously loses talent to international mobility.
Recruitment timelines reflect this reality. Finding a confirmed S/4HANA consultant takes six to twelve weeks in France according to Silkhom, compared to two to three weeks for an IT profile of comparable seniority. Daily rates on critical SAP modules (FI/CO, SD, PP) have risen approximately 9.5% over twelve months.
For a complete guide to ERP profiles and compensation benchmarks, see our article on ERP recruitment: salary benchmarks and strategies for 2026.
Strategy 1: Targeted recruiting — where to look in 2026
Specialist agencies and the right platforms
Generalist IT recruiters (Hays Technology, Michael Page IT) remain useful for senior profiles, but turnaround times are long. For more specialised profiles, consider dedicated firms: Silkhom (ERP and SAP exclusively) and equivalents such as Kara Technology or specialist practices within Access Group and Sage Business partner networks. For freelance needs, platforms like Malt and Toptal give rapid access to an active talent pool — provided you accept market day rates.
For SAP projects, post directly on SAP Community and specialist LinkedIn groups. For Odoo, community forums and meetups are active pipelines that are routinely overlooked by traditional channels.
Certifications as a recruitment signal
A consultant who holds SAP S/4HANA Finance certification, Microsoft Certified Dynamics 365 F&O Functional Consultant, or an official Odoo certification has invested in their specialisation. These credentials do not guarantee delivery quality, but they reduce the risk of an over-claimed profile and signal professional commitment.
Build a short technical test into your process (two hours, a real business scenario): it is the most effective filter in a market where high demand has led some junior profiles to present themselves as senior.
Nearshore and offshore: what works and what doesn’t
Nearshore works well for certain ERP profiles. Casablanca has become an active talent hub: Capgemini, CGI, Sopra Steria, and Atos recruit SAP and Odoo consultants there for European engagements in hybrid mode (partial remote with occasional on-site). Portugal (Lisbon, Porto) offers a European alternative with qualified English-speaking profiles on SAP and Dynamics 365. Poland and Romania are relevant for pan-European projects requiring multilingual capability.
Rule of thumb: nearshore works very well for Odoo and for SAP ABAP/development. It is less mature for complex Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations and for projects requiring intensive physical presence during the mobilisation phase.
Strategy 2: Retention — how to keep your consultants and key users
2026 salary benchmarks: what the market demands
A CIO who ignores market compensation in 2026 will lose their internal consultants. Indicative ranges observed in Western European markets (sources: Glassdoor, Plateya, Indeed):
| Profile | Junior (0–3 yrs) | Mid-level (3–7 yrs) | Senior / Expert |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAP S/4HANA consultant | €45–55k/yr | €60–70k/yr | €75–90k/yr |
| Dynamics 365 F&O consultant | €42–52k/yr | €52–65k/yr | €65–80k/yr |
| Odoo consultant | €32–42k/yr | €42–55k/yr | €55–70k/yr |
| ERP project manager | €50–60k/yr | €65–80k/yr | €80–100k/yr |
On a freelance basis, SAP S/4HANA daily rates range from €700 to €1,200 depending on the specialisation, with a floor of around €900/day for S/4HANA Cloud profiles according to Plateya.
What drives retention beyond salary
Pay is necessary but not sufficient. In 2026, ERP consultants leave their roles for three reasons other than compensation:
- Technical stagnation: a consultant stuck on legacy ERP with no clear path to a cloud migration knows their market value is eroding. Offer an explicit training plan and a skills development roadmap.
- No remote flexibility: ERP consultants have come to expect two to three days of remote work as standard. Organisations insisting on five days on-site consistently lose their mobile profiles.
- Unchallenging work: a Dynamics 365 Finance expert kept on ticket maintenance 80% of the time will seek a fresh implementation project elsewhere.
The post-go-live retention risk: your key users become marketable
Go-live is also the moment when your attrition risk accelerates. Your key users — trained on the system for eighteen months — now hold module-level expertise that the market actively values. Recruiters and integrators target them within the first six months of a go-live.
Get ahead of this risk with straightforward tools: a formalised career path, a conditional retention bonus over 24 months post-go-live, a commitment to fund official certification. The cost of replacing an experienced ERP key user (three to six months to recruit plus six months to reach productivity) far exceeds the cost of a proactive retention policy.
Strategy 3: Internal upskilling — turning users into experts
A realistic timeline
A well-selected internal user can reach junior consultant level in 18 to 24 months, given a structured programme. This is not a commercial promise — it reflects the trajectory observed in upskilling programmes run by consultancies and large enterprises. The advantage of this profile: they know your organisation, your culture, and your data better than any external consultant ever will.
A typical sequence:
- Months 1–3: foundational training on the target module (SAP Learning Hub, Oracle University, Microsoft Learn, Odoo e-Learning)
- Months 4–9: active participation in configuration workshops, testing, and user acceptance
- Months 10–18: leading user training sessions and handling tier-2 support
- Months 18–24: official certification, full ownership of a functional scope
Available training programmes
The major ERP vendors offer certified learning paths, mostly remote:
- SAP Learning Hub: annual subscription, unlimited access to role-based learning paths (user, consultant, developer)
- Microsoft Learn: free for foundational paths, Dynamics 365 certifications available
- Oracle University: paid, Cloud ERP and EBS catalogue
- Odoo e-Learning: free up to core functional modules, paid certifications available
Government-backed training funding
Many European countries and the UK offer employer-facing funding schemes for ERP training. In the UK, the Apprenticeship Levy can fund ERP-related training programmes. Across the EU, Skills Agenda co-financing and national skills funds cover certified SAP, Microsoft, and Odoo training. Certified programmes from SAP (e.g. SAP Certified Application Associate) are eligible for individual training accounts in several countries, enabling full or partial reimbursement with no impact on your direct training budget.
For a full breakdown of ERP training organisations, certifications, and funding pathways, see our article on ERP training organisations and certification funding.
To structure your upskilling programme, see also our 6-step guide to ERP user training.
Strategy 4: Integrator partnerships and managed services — outsourcing intelligently
The advantages of a structured managed services contract
A structured managed services contract with your integrator gives you access to a skills pool without the direct resource management risk. The SLA contractualises service levels, and the integrator absorbs turnover risk: if your ERP point of contact leaves, it is their internal staffing problem, not yours.
For mid-market companies that cannot justify a full-time senior ERP role, managed services is often the most economically rational model. It guarantees skills availability without the recruitment overhead.
Risks to contractualise from day one
Dependency is the primary risk of a poorly structured contract. The integrator progressively becomes the sole holder of knowledge about your system, which undermines any future contract renegotiation.
To avoid this trap:
- Require exhaustive configuration documentation at every change (a contractual deliverable, not optional)
- Mandate active knowledge transfer to your key users: your internal team must be able to handle tier-2 requests without raising a ticket
- Schedule a skills audit every 18 months to measure your actual dependency and course-correct before the situation becomes irreversible
Our complete guide to ERP maintenance contracts covers the clauses to negotiate and the classic pitfalls to avoid.
Strategy 5: Plan 12–18 months out — the only truly systemic answer
The ERP recruitment paradox
CIOs recruit when they need to — which is precisely when market demand is at its peak and timelines are at their worst. That is structurally too late. In a market where finding a confirmed S/4HANA consultant takes three months, launching a search at J-60 before go-live means either starting without your critical resource or starting late.
The rule is straightforward: building your ERP team must begin 12 to 18 months before the project launch, not at the moment you sign with the integrator.
Building a talent pipeline in advance
Three levers are systematically underused:
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Apprenticeships and internships: undergraduate and postgraduate programmes specialising in ERP (business schools, information systems degrees, university partnerships with SAP, Microsoft, or Odoo) produce students trained on real ERP environments. A student who spends two years in your specific business context will often become productive faster than an external consultant who must first learn your organisation.
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Reserving resources with your integrator: mid-size integrators (20 to 100 consultants) are willing to ring-fence profiles in pre-sales if you commit 6 to 12 months in advance. Past that window, the best consultants are already allocated elsewhere and you are left with whoever is available, not whoever is right.
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Internal ambassador programme: identify among your current users those who have the aptitude to become key users or future internal consultants. Invest in them before the project, not during it. Development is far faster when someone is not simultaneously in production mode on a high-pressure implementation.
Plan B: what to do if a critical resource is missing near go-live
If a critical resource is still missing at J-90, three options are preferable to an under-resourced implementation:
- Reduce the initial scope: a go-live covering 60% of scope with the right team is better than a 100% go-live with an insufficient one. Differentiating modules (CRM, advanced analytics, HR) can wait for phase 2.
- Phase the rollout: critical modules (finance, procurement, inventory) in phase 1; high-value modules in phase 2 twelve months later, with time to develop the right resources.
- Delay go-live: a three-month negotiated delay is always preferable to a failed deployment. For a framework to pressure-test your vendor’s timeline and resource commitments, see our guide to 50 questions to ask your ERP vendor.
The ERP talent shortage is structural and will not resolve until training pipelines catch up with the demand generated by regulatory migration mandates. CIOs who start combining targeted recruitment, proactive retention, and internal upskilling today are building a durable operational advantage for the projects ahead.
For deeper coverage of each dimension, our related articles:
- ERP recruitment: salary benchmarks and strategies for 2026 — full compensation ranges by profile and level
- 6-step guide to ERP user training — how to structure your upskilling programme
- ERP maintenance contracts: complete post-go-live guide — the clauses to negotiate to avoid integrator dependency
