Delays and skills shortages are making recruiting staff with the right skills for the job so difficult, it is costing British businesses £1.7 billion a year, highlights the first of a series of Skills Shortage bulletins published 8 May 2018 by the Edge Foundation.
The latest data from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Quarterly Economic Survey of over 7,100 businesses shows that skilled manual labour is the most problematic area of recruitment; 68 per cent of firms are struggling – the highest since records began.
Edge’s Director of Policy and Research, Olly Newton, who compiled the report, said:
‘All the evidence indicates that UK plc is facing a recruitment crisis. Altogether, 203,000 people with Level 3+ engineering skills are needed to meet expected demand, but we are seeing skills shortages right across the board and in all kinds of jobs. In construction, the next three to five years will see a 90 per cent increase in demand for management skills while 68 per cent of building firms are struggling to recruit bricklayers.
‘The closure of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) last year, has left a data vacuum. Edge will be bringing together the best available evidence in a series of regular reports to present a comprehensive picture of skills shortages in the UK economy.’
The Edge Foundation has stepped forward to convene a Skills Shortage Analysis Group bringing together the key organisations and academics with an interest to share plans, research data and messages.
The Group will support us to produce a regular series of Skills Shortage Bulletins presenting key recent data and analysis in one place for the first time.
In the first of those bulletins they feature the latest data from organisations including CBI, British Chambers of Commerce and the DfE, as well as a specific focus on Engineering, highlighting the need for 203,000 people with Level 3+ engineering skills per year to meet expected demand. The second bulletin will cover the digital sector, and the third will look at creative industries.
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