Hospitality and manufacturing are the two sectors struggling the most when it comes to recruiting enough workers, a new survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has found.
It found that, overall, companies wanting to hire are still struggling to find enough staff despite the cooling economy and a growing number of redundancies, The Times has reported.
Of those actively hiring, 80% have reported difficulties as they try to add to their headcounts, just shy of the record 82% that reported similar frustrations in December.
For companies in the hospitality sector, the latest figure was 83%, with the ability to find unskilled workers one of the biggest issues for hospitality operators, the BCC said.
“People shortages are a massive issue and employers can see little sign of improvement,” Jane Gratton, head of people policy at the BCC, said. “The high number of unfilled job vacancies is damaging businesses and the economy. Firms are struggling to fulfil order books and turning down new work.”
She suggested “urgent reform” to the government’s shortage occupation list was needed in order to make it easier for companies to fill certain positions with overseas workers.
The survey also found that more businesses are now worried about labour costs than they are by energy bills.
