Skills "mismatch" hits engineering
24 Jun 2006
Around 28% of companies are struggling to recruit vital engineering staff, with a further 15% reporting it particularly difficult to find IT specialists.
This skills gap relates to "a mismatch between what industry is demanding and the skills that schools and universities are churning out," according to Colin Tenwick, CEO of recruitment firm StepStone, which has surveyed the market. "Government action and academic think-tanks aren't 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 businesses struggles to recruit engineers, noted the "Recruitment Trends 2006" survey.
Some 54% of UK companies plan to tackle the skills gap by investing in employee development, while 33% aim to source ahead of demand and improve their employer brand. Almost 20% of UK firms plan to increase recruitment from abroad.
