Hays warns firms’ lack of skilled workers could dent recovery
SKILLS shortages in key industries could threaten the UK’s economic recovery unless the government changes immigration policies to attract skilled foreign workers, according to a report by recruitment firm Hays.
Job opportunities in industries such as oil and gas, energy, IT and construction have grown over the past year as the economy has shown signs of recovery but the necessary skilled employees are not available locally, Hays said in its global skills index out today.
“Too many skilled jobs are now going unfilled because the right skills are in increasingly short supply. This makes a real dent on a company’s ability to grow and constrains the UK’s economic prospects at a time when we need to be encouraging a sustained recovery,” said Hays’ chief executive Alistair Cox.
To fix the problem in the short-term the report calls for the UK’s immigration policies to be geared towards attracting skilled workers.
Only Spain, Portugal and Ireland have a greater talent mismatch in Europe according to Hays.