Employers still struggling to recruit STEM-skilled staff, reports latest CBI survey

The CBI / EDI Education & Skills survey 2011 has revealed that employers are concerned with the basic skills levels of school and college leavers.

The annual survey of 566 employers showed that 35% of them are concerned with the basic numeracy skills of school and college leavers and 42% are not satisfied with their basic use of English; with 44% claiming they have had to invest in remedial training for new employees.

STEM skills

With the focus set to be on high-value, export-oriented goods and services as businesses try to rebalance the economy, STEM-skilled graduates will be in demand, however, according to the survey ‘52% of employers surveyed are not confident of meeting future needs for increased numbers of high-skilled employees, particularly in science, engineering and maths.’

Shortages in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills are widespread with 43% of employers currently having difficulty recruiting staff in these areas, rising to 53% who expect to have difficulty in the next year. According to 62% of businesses, the Government must tackle these shortages by promoting science and maths in schools, and supporting STEM-related apprenticeship programmes (54%).

Companies understand that they too have a key role to play with 31% of employers currently offering STEM related work experience. Employers are also willing to pay a premium for staff with STEM skills, with 40% of companies in science and IT and 33% in construction reporting that STEM graduates earn more than other graduates over the course of their careers.

John Cridland, CBI Director-General described how: “With UK businesses looking to win a larger share of global markets as we rebalance the economy, the skills bar is constantly being raised by international competition. Higher-skilled employees, especially in science, technology, engineering and maths will be some of the most in demand.

“The Government must improve the take-up of science and maths in schools and support the development of STEM apprenticeship programmes so that employers are able to recruit the right people to drive growth.”

Careers concerns

The survey has also raised further questions about careers advice in schools and colleges, with only 6% of businesses being confident that advice is good enough; a further 64% believe that careers advice must improve. Employers also seem to have a desire to right this wrong too, with 54% saying they would be willing to play a greater role in delivering careers advice, a figure that rises to 66% for large firms.

Further findings, relating to languages, business investment in training and apprenticeships can be read about in the CBI / EDI press release.

The full report is available to download below the image.