Skill shortage crisis - 04/2001

London's biggest business organization together with London Mayor Ken Livingstone have launched a campaign to tackle the capital's worsening skills shortage crisis and improve links between business and education.

Mr Livingstone said: Skills shortages are a severe problem for both the private and public sector. Whilst there are no easy solutions, it is extremely important that we do as much as possible to match the skills of those people seeking work with the jobs on offer. It cannot make sense that the capital still has pockets of unemployment which are amongst the highest in the country whilst, at the same time, many firms are struggling to fill vacancies.

For firms this means not just trying harder to find the right staff but also investing longer term in their local community and building links to enable them to recruit more easily. I have asked the London Development Agency to develop a shared agenda on skills across the capital and my Economic Development Strategy, being finalised by the LDA, contains a number of actions designed to address London's skills challenges.

www.londonchamber.co.uk