The voice of UK Plc, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has released figures which show a 50% rise in the number of bosses reporting difficulties recruiting staff with the right skills.

According to the BCC, two surveys taken ten years apart reveal the extent of the skills shortage. Sentiment measured last year showed that 43% experienced a skills shortfall while in 1994 the figure was just 29%.

BCC Director General, David Frost is expected to call on the government to tackle the problem by improving vocational training and career services for young people.

He will tell delegates at today’s ‘Skills for Employability’ Conference at the Barbican London that the current system is not providing potential employees with the right skills for business:

“The skills of our workforce are already lagging behind many of our global competitors. The Government must implement lasting reform in its proposals next week or our competitive edge could be seriously harmed. Businesses cannot wait any longer."

The survey figures are taken from two surveys covering over 6,000 businesses.