Engineering skills ‘mismatch’

London -- Around 28% of companies are struggling to recruit vital engineering staff, while a further 15% report it particularly difficult to find IT specialists, according to a new survey from recruitment firm StepStone.

The skills gap relates to "a mismatch between what industry is demanding and the skills that schools and universities are churning out," said Colin Tenwick, StepStone CEO, adding that "government action and academic think tanks are not addressing the problem quickly enough."

The problem is not apparently restricted to the UK. Across Europe one in four companies admits to having difficulties recruiting IT staff and a further one third of companies struggle to recruit engineers, noted the "Recruitment Trends 2006" survey.

In response, 54% of UK companies plan are investing in internal employee development, while 33% aim to source ahead of demand and improve their employer brand. A further 19% of UK companies said they planned to increase recruitment from abroad.

StepStone surveyed 2,171 HR Managers across various company sizes and business sectors in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK.

Founded in Norway in 1996, StepStone claims to be a pioneer in the development of online recruitment in Europe. Its client list includes

Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Deutsche Bank, Toyota Motor Europe, Whirlpool Corp. and KPMG.