Businesses must be prepared to meet the expectations of the new generation of talent if they want to remain competitive on the global stage, it has been claimed.
According to Albert Ellis, chief executive officer of recruitment firm Harvey Nash, businesses must ‘modernise or miss out’ on the new generation of talent.
Ellis warned that social, demographic and economic changes and inadequate education programmes have caused an endemic skills shortage in the UK.
He predicted that 46% of the UK population would be aged 50 or over by 2030 and that an extra 19,000 skilled IT and telecommunications workers will be needed to meet the demand for ecommerce and software specialists.
He said: “In these times of growing global competition, ageing populations and economic migration, UK companies have never depended more on the knowledge and brainpower of their employees to stay competitive.
“New generation recruits are mobile, connected and aspirational - to find the right people at the right time in the right place, employers need to adapt to this new model or risk being bypassed altogether.
“Yet, although the demands and habits of new recruits may be changing, the next generation is not the problem, it’s the solution. It will make the difference in overcoming these challenges and it is up to businesses to evolve in order to tap into that potential.”
Businesses will need to embrace skilled migration, recruit from wider social groups and offer flexible working practices to attract and retain the new generation of talent, Ellis said.
“Far from undermining the UK labour market, migration is critical to future economic stability, helping to fill in the gaps created by older and under-skilled workforces.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007