There are several levels of recruitment which need to be considered before we can jump to conclusions about the next crisis to follow our recession: graduates and first-time employees, the unemployed trying to get back into work and those switching careers to try something new.

At every level it’s highly likely that relevant skills or knowledge will be missing. I agree that more needs to be done to encourage the younger generation to embrace technical and engineering-based subjects as it’s been proven there’s already a skills gap. However, it’s also up to the companies to ensure they provide their employees with the opportunity to consistently learn while on the job.

Few jobs nowadays are ’for life’. Never has it been truer that skills requirements are ever-changing. We’ve already seen how the digitisation of our world and working environment has changed our lives - it’s not fair to expect all employees to adapt alongside these changes in their own time.

Companies and organisations recruiting need to make sure they hire people with the flexibility to learn new tricks and procedures, ideally with the relevant subject matter expertise. But at the same time they need to give their employees the chance to train and learn while on the job.
Allan Pettman, UK managing director, Global Knowledge