Graduates and school leavers do not have skills employers need November 24, 2014 Employers are increasingly struggling to fill entry-level jobs as graduates and school-leavers are often lacking key skills, according to a Totaljobs.com report out today. One in seven firms has been unable to fill an entry-level vacancy in the past three years. At the same time, 15 per cent of recent graduates remain unemployed, and 20 [...]
Skills shortages boost jobs: Demand for professional talent soars after year of strong growth November 3, 2014 The jobs market for professional workers is booming on the back of a strong year of economic growth in the UK. Professional recruitment firms now have 41 per cent more vacancies on their books than this time last year, reveals survey data released today by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo). The latest research [...]
UK skills shortage: Bad hires cost businesses £14,000 each October 20, 2014 The skills shortage is an oft-cited obstacle for small firms, but now new research has found each bad hire costs businesses £13,799. Ouch. The research, by Sandler training, found a shortage of good applications means over half of small businesses admit to having made bad hires. More than a quarter of small businesses blamed their [...]
Skills shortage in construction or property to push up wages by as much as 10pc, says Hays October 9, 2014 Recruitment giant Hays said yesterday that skill shortages were pushing up some white collar salaries as much as 10 per cent, despite sluggish wage growth across the economy as a whole. A booming jobs market has resulted in the firm placing 20 per cent more staff in its latest quarter than in the same period [...]
Britain’s digital skills crisis is jeopardising our competitiveness July 24, 2014 The digital skills agenda has become a hot topic in Britain. But if we thought adding computer science to the national curriculum would be a silver bullet solution to the UK’s chronic digital skills shortages, we were wrong. A report out this week from the Digital Skills Taskforce confirms just how much still needs to be done [...]
Young have top IT skills, but lack literacy and numeracy, says CBI July 3, 2014 Young people entering employment now have excellent IT skills, but are still lacking basic literacy and numeracy, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry and Pearson on education and skills released today. The poll, which included the views of 291 companies employing more than 1.5m people, found that 96 per cent of [...]
We are jeopardising UK tech by failing to tackle UK skills shortages June 17, 2014 THE UK’s tech scene has changed beyond all recognition since I left London for the US in the late 1990s. Back then, there seemed little to be excited about beyond ARM and Autonomy. But fast forward to 2014 and Tech City can claim to have created more businesses than anywhere else in the UK, with [...]
Skills shortage pushing up pay across the City June 16, 2014 HIRING jumped in financial services last month as the economic recovery takes hold in the City, according to figures out today from recruiter Morgan McKinley. But a lack of suitably skilled workers is a problem for businesses who are raising pay to attract the best staff. And the increased competition for talent is also pushing [...]
UK industry fears skills squeeze in push to hire a million workers April 29, 2014 MANUFACTURERS are starting to feel the effects of a squeeze on skills as the economy recovers, and will need a million new employees by 2020, according to a report released today. Industry group EEF says the limited number of students in technical subjects in the UK could be a strain on the sector. When looking [...]
Immigration rules and skills shortages hold back UK tech potential April 21, 2014 THE FIRST few months of 2014 have been a whirlwind for London’s tech sector. Just-East burst onto the stock market with a £1.5bn valuation, DeepMind and Natural Motion were acquired for a combined £720m within three days of each other, Circassia completed a £200m public offering, and we witnessed a resurgent IPO market. Yet while [...]