Firms look east to plug skills gap

4:58pm Saturday 1st March 2008

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More than half of manufacturers in the south east are looking outside the UK to find the skilled people they need to grow their businesses.

The latest survey by EEF South, the regional manufacturers' organisation, shows a widening of the technical skills gap, which is pushing almost six in ten manufacturers to recruit talent from eastern Europe and as far afield as India.

EEF South Chief Executive David Seall said: "While it is encouraging that greater investment is planned in the UK's technical skills base through an expansion of apprenticeships, as of today manufacturers simply do not have the volume of home grown talent that they need in order to remain competitive.

"Finding the right people for technical jobs continues to be a major challenge - and increasingly for manufacturers this means looking beyond the UK.

"The situation has worsened over the last two years and is particularly worrying because UK companies need to compete globally through knowledge and innovation rather than on price alone."

Respondents to EEF South's Members' Views Survey say that this skills shortage is driving up the real-term cost of recruitment, as businesses make greater use of temp-to-perm appointments and starting salaries are forced up.