Skills and Demand in Industry report 2007

The survey results showed that employers were still suffering from a major shortage of engineering and technology skills. Furthermore, there was little confidence that things would improve. 80 per cent of employers said that they would be recruiting “experienced staff”, and 50 per cent said that they would not be recruiting school leavers.

Females represented on average 8.1 per cent of the workforce.Nearly 50 per cent of companies recruited from overseas in the previous 12 months to cover specific skills shortages.