UK business lack vision to employ highly-skilled: report

08 May 2009

Businesses in the UK should be more visionary in their approach in order to raise level of employment in the country, according to a report.

The report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) says there are now too few jobs for UK graduates and there is a widening gap between the supply of high-level workers and jobs for them.

The report calls on businesses to show more vision and be more ambitious to offer highly skilled jobs. It says targets for the year 2020 for raising the skills of those with low or intermediate skills will not be met.

Management and leadership in the UK have come in for sharp criticism in the report. It points out that there are many managers in the UK who are not well qualified and who do not apply accepted management practices.

Economic performance will only improve if the situation on the management and leadership front improves in the UK the report says.

The UKCES, which is an independent body set up by the government to improve employment and skills, has, in the report, focused on how likely the UK is to meet specific targets for the year 2020.