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Skills demand set to soar

DEMAND for highly-skilled people will intensify during the recovery, and employers fear they will not be able to find people with the skills they need to fill high-level jobs, a new survey reveals today.

The new CBI report, called Ready to grow: business priorities for education and skills, was answered by 694 employers, which together employ over 2.4 million people and represent companies of all sizes and sector.

Half of employers (51%) are concerned they will not be able to fill posts requiring the right graduate level or higher skills in the coming years, and a third (32%) don’t believe it will be possible to fill intermediate level jobs, requiring skills equivalent to A level.

A third (30%) of employers predict the need for lower-level skills will decrease, while just 17% say it will increas

Despite the recession, nearly half of employers (45%) say they are already having difficulty recruiting staff with skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), with manufacturers and science-related businesses having the most difficulty finding highly-skilled people to fill their posts.

Even more companies (59%) expect to have difficulty finding STEM-skilled people in the next 3 years. Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, said: “Our survey shows businesses want tomorrow’s workforce to be at the top of the new government’s policy agenda. As we move further into recovery and businesses plan for growth, the demand for people with high-quality skills and qualifications will intensify.

“In the future, people with qualifications in science and maths will be particularly sought after, and firms say it is already hard to find people with the right technical or engineering skills. The new government must make encouraging more young people to study science-related subjects a top priority.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .