The thorny issue of tight labour markets What’s the significance of the ongoing recruitment and skills issues faced by Cumbrian businesses?

Peck, Frank ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1976-154X (2024) The thorny issue of tight labour markets What’s the significance of the ongoing recruitment and skills issues faced by Cumbrian businesses? In Cumbria Magazine, 2024 (Sept). pp. 10-11.

Preview

PDF - Published Version Available under License CC BY-NC Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Professor Frank Peck of the University of Cumbria asks: What’s the significance of the ongoing recruitment and skills issues faced by Cumbrian businesses?

Achieving growth in the economy is now high on the agenda of the incoming Labour government. There is recognition that achieving this requires that significant barriers to growth are overcome. Of course, many of the most significant barriers are external to the firm – inflation, competition, taxation, interest rates. However, there are also significant barriers within firms, not least the ongoing difficulties experienced in recruitment and skills shortages. Nationally, labour market issues continue to be highlighted as an area of business challenge. Surveys tend to confirm that recruitment difficulties persist across the UK and in all sectors. A recent survey of more than 4,700 UK firms revealed that 59 per cent of businesses had attempted to recruit in quarter two of 2024 but 74 per cent of these had experienced difficulty in filling vacancies. The problems are particularly widespread in construction and engineering, but also affect other sectors that are prominent in Cumbria, notably in transport and logistics (79 per cent) and manufacturing (77 per cent) (British Chamber of Commerce, Quarterly Recruitment Outlook July 2024). The report concludes that labour shortages are ‘holding back growth’ for many businesses.

Item Type:	Article
Journal / Publication Title:	In Cumbria Magazine
Publisher:	CN Group
Departments:	Institute of Business, Industry and Leadership > Business Centre for Regional Economic Development (CRED)
Additional Information:	Frank Peck is Emeritus Professor at the University of Cumbria’s Institute of Business, Industry and Leadership.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	23 Sep 2024 08:14
Last Modified:	23 Sep 2024 08:15
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/8405

Downloads