Breaking finance and business news, tax information, jobs and more for finance directors and senior finance professionals.

The 'CBI/Edexcel Education & Skills Survey 2008' of 735 firms, employing 1.7 million people between them, identifies skills gaps in the workplace, reveals the skills employers value the most and spotlights how employers are managing to source highly skilled people with the right qualifications.

Literacy and numeracy 

It is striking that over half of employers (53 per cent) lack confidence in their ability to find enough people with the right skills for their business.

Basic skills - the ability to read, write and do simple arithmetic - are still a major cause for business concern. Two-fifths of employers had serious concerns about employees’ basic literacy and numeracy skills.

On the literacy side, the main problems are not being able to write in sentences, spell correctly or use accurate grammar. On the numeracy side, the key issue is the inability to spot simple errors or rogue numbers.

While most employers (63 per cent) described staff in high skilled roles as ‘good’, fewer did so for those in intermediate level jobs (43 per cent) and even fewer for lower skilled staff (35 per cent).

Poor basic skills have a serious impact on customer service according to two-fifths (40 per cent) of employers, and lower productivity according to a third (34 per cent).

Both issues have damaging implications for business performance and around a quarter of employers are investing in remedial literacy and numeracy training.

Ability to use computers 

IT skills are also seen as weak, with over half of employers (56 per cent) concerned about the ability of existing employees to use computers.

The skills of people already in the workplace are not keeping pace with the rapid development of technology. Again, many firms (69 per cent) are investing in training to raise IT skills of existing staff.

The CBI’s deputy director-general, John Cridland, said that a worrying number of employers had little confidence that they would be able to plug their skills gaps.

He added that too many firms also said poor basic skills were hampering customer service and acting as a drag on their business’s performance.

Softer skills 

Cridland said that being skilled was all the more important in an increasingly global economy.

His message to students was that their hard work to attain the right skills and good qualifications was essential to securing quality, well-paid jobs after school, college or university.

"This survey is also an alarm call to students and universities, who may be surprised by just how much employers also value the ‘softer’ skills that make people more employable. This means being a good team-worker, communicator and problem-solver is vital and getting work experience goes a long way with a future employer," Cridland said.

The 32 per cent of jobs currently requiring degree-level education is likely to grow, as the UK continues to move towards an economy built on value-added services, high-tech and knowledge-based firms.

This survey shows that employers want graduates who can communicate well and work as part of a team. Graduates’ positive attitude to work and good communication skills are seen as more important than the degree subject or result.

The majority (86 per cent) of employers ranked positive attitude and ‘employability’ in their top three demands. These skills include team-working, communication, business awareness, self-management and problem-solving.

STEM skills 

Having relevant work experience, such as a placement during a degree course, was also ranked as vitally important, by 62 per cent of bosses.

While 56 per cent of employers said degree subject was a top factor, however, degree result was named by just 32 per cent.

Firms employing people with skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics ('STEM skills') are considerably more likely to demand a specific degree subject - 77 per cent of construction companies, 65 per cent of manufacturers and 61 per cent of energy and water firms, compared an average of 30 per cent across all sectors.

There is high demand for STEM graduates in all sectors - 92 per cent of firms want people with these skills.