Member Article

Drop in unemployment masks continuing industry skills gaps

Specialist manufacturing employment expert James Gill, Director of First Class Technical Recruitment, has welcomed the fall in UK unemployment, but warned that the figures mask the continuing skills shortage facing UK industry.

James Gill said: “While unemployment is down, there are still many vacancies that cannot be filled due to the lack of available skilled personnel. We are suffering from a lack of investment in people and skills over the last decade that has resulted in a significant skills gap across many areas of industry.

“Investment in apprenticeships is still playing catch-up and the numbers of workers approaching retirement age continue to increase, which leaves a considerable gap in the middle where businesses need their workforce to be at their most productive.

“The government should look to fund re-skilling programmes, particularly for those in sectors such as ship building and the armed forces that are facing major redundancies and have people who, with additional skills, would be in a position to transfer industries and fill the available roles.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Recognition PR Business Team .