There has been a substantial problem identified in recruitment with companies unable to find suitably qualified persons for technical or IT projects.  Reports have shown that the gap comes from differences in what education offers and what employers want and there have already been calls for deeper engagement between employers and education systems in order to ensure that relevant skills are being covered.

Some larger companies have begun apprenticeship programmes, the focus being on recruiting and training eligible candidates with the correct skills from the outset rather than hiring from higher education only to find that they do not meet expectations.

Surveys have shown that this technical skills gap for UK employers has increased for the ninth year in a row with nearly three quarters of firms unable to recruit properly skilled technical staff.  The Government have acknowledged this gap and measures are already underway with regards to increases in technical colleges.  This will target 14-19 year olds specialising in subjects where a shortage in skills has been identified, thirty three new colleges across the UK have already been approved, although there is some argument that existing institutes should be developed to deal with the problem instead.

The UK is not the only country experiencing this skills gap.  This is causing a problem throughout Europe and The European Alliance for Apprenticeships is one of several organisations attempting to address the issue.

It is also not just a problem with the younger inexperienced generation.  The older generation is similarly suffering from this gap with areas like IT developing at an increasing rate meaning that even experienced IT workers are lagging in the skills that companies are looking to recruit and ongoing training is becoming more of an issue.

The gap does not only affect companies on an individual level, but can cause an arrest in the development of an economy as a whole if not properly contained.