Skills shortages threaten recovery (analysis) [Briefing in Depth]

The recession has hit job vacancies, but several reports show that we still need to nurture engineering skills. A spate of recent research into UK industry's demand for engineers and the future supply of skills offers mixed messages about the profession's prospects. The IET believes the 2009 edition of its annual Skills and Demand in Industry report shows that although the recession has taken its toll on the sector, the end could be in sight. The bad news is that only 31 per cent of employers said that they plan to take on new staff over the next 12 months, compared to 63 per cent last year. The main reason for the freeze, given by a third of those who will not be recruiting this year, was financial constraints. However, only 12 per cent thought that this would be a problem in two to three years, fuelling speculation that the recession is coming to an end. The risk then is that the skills shortages revealed by previous IET surveys will resurface. Forty per cent of companies said they were concerned about losing their skills base.