London businesses look overseas to fill skills gap

Results from the latest CBI-KPMG London Business Survey shows two out of
three companies in the capital, at 65%, expect to be hampered by skills
shortages over the next six months. A majority of 58% are already recruiting
from overseas.

Almost a third, at 29% of those turning overseas, said they were increasing
their recruitment from outside the UK and, contrary to the perception that
overseas workers often performed low-skilled jobs, 83% were bringing in
candidates with higher, degree-level skills.

John Cridland,
CBI
deputy director-general, said British graduates were competing in the job market
with a ‘topslice of talent’ from overseas universities. ‘To remain attractive to
employers UK graduates need better careers advice and stronger employability
skills in areas like teamworking and communication,’ he said.

According to Ian Barlow, London
KPMG senior
partner, it was important businesses in London had access to skilled labour from
abroad. ‘There is so much that needs to be done to upskill our own Londoners to
enable them to compete for these jobs,’ he said.

Further reading:

Talent management: make your own luck