The UK's top businessmen say a lack of key skills is hampering their growth prospects and are calling for government action to improve the situation, according to research from PwC.
A global PwC survey of over 1,300 CEOs found that UK business leaders are more concerned about the availability of key skills than any of their Western European counterparts, with 65% rating this as the greatest threat to growing their business.
Three out of four UK CEOs said creating and encouraging a skilled workforce should be the government's highest priority for business for the year ahead and wanted to see an official response to plugging the gap.
In contrast, only a third of UK CEOs see filling talent gaps as a major priority for the year ahead. Most identify this as a longer-term goal, with 70% of respondents saying they plan to increase investment in their workforce over the next three years.
PwC's research suggests that mining, energy, engineering and construction companies have the most chronic shortage of skilled employees.
Laura Hinton, human resources consulting partner at PwC, said: 'UK businesses are struggling with a widening mismatch between the skills of their workforce and the skills they need to achieve strong growth. There needs to be a joint approach to addressing the problem, with business and government working together to plug the skills gap.'
PwC's study indicates that UK businesses are planning to hire this year, with more planning to increase their headcount (45%) than make cuts (35%). The remaining respondents (17%) expect their headcount to remain relatively static.
Separate analysis by KPMG suggests that many businesses fail to collate meaningful information about their employees and that this is hindering their ability to drive growth. Only 15% of top executives in its study felt HR excelled at providing the necessary metrics.
According to Robert Bolton, partner in KPMG's global HR centre of excellence, this results in 'an organisational landscape dominated by more questions than answers, with HR teams and business leaders unable to identify the skills needed for long-term growth.'
Bolton said: 'The simple fact is that, if growth is to be stimulated, organisations need to re-skill, up-skill and reinvigorate their staff. Yet, only when HR teams capture and provide the boardroom with metrics that clearly outline what action must be taken will it be possible to deliver HR programmes that build business results.'
