Research from the Open University (OU) has pointed to a crisis in UK companies' ability to attract skilled workers, with employers now having to pay more than ever to recruit new staff. 

PR agency Third City, who conducted the research on the OU’s behalf, spoke to the senior managers of 400 companies, 300 of which were SMEs, and found that 90% had struggled to recruit workers with the right skills in the past 12 months. 

“What we tried to do is get a picture of the UK business landscape. We tried to a get a broad mix of industries and we wanted to look into the skills gap and find out a bit more about it,” said Third City account executive Matt McKenna, who conducted the research.

The report suggests a number of factors are contributing to the problem – which it calculates is costing companies more than £2bn a year – including the uncertainty caused by Brexit and low unemployment rates.

56% of firms surveyed said they had had to increase salaries on advertised roles in order to obtain the skills they needed. Overall spending on inflated salaries was estimated at £527m, with the average increase per role for SMEs at £4,150 per year and for larger companies at £5,575 per year. 

More than half (53%) of the businesses that responded said they had failed to find a candidate with the required skillset so chose to hire at a lower level, while 75% said the amount of time it takes to hire has increased.

Mike Gilligan, director of printing industry recruiter Mercury Search & Selection, said that the record low unemployment figures mean employers are finding it difficult to attract top talent.

“Beyond the headlines there is an interesting paradox; whilst the economy is doing relatively well, hence the expansion and need to recruit, there is a sense that employees are concerned and risk averse,” he said.

“Certainly the mainstream media is very downbeat, whether it comes down to Brexit or the government generally, so fewer people are actively looking, preferring the stability of the jobs they have. The impact of this is that employers need to work harder.”

Print is no exception in feeling the strangle of the skills shortage.

St Austell, Cornwall-based Nationwide Print managing director Julian Hocking said that it was especially difficult for businesses such as his that are located in rural areas.

“This has been a steady decline for a number of years and it’s getting worse, and actually it will be a massive problem for the industry,” said Hocking.

“In every sense, finding skilled staff is incredibly difficult and we are having to offer increased salaries. We’re lucky, we eventually find staff but it is not an easy process.”

Commercial Group co-founder Symon Hindmarch-Bye, whose organisation incorporates social enterprise arm We Do Print, said there was "clearly a shortage of skills and shortage of young people" in print and that it is "shocking" that no one is doing anything about it. His organisation differs in its approach to plugging skills gaps. 

“We want to develop the people that join the company in the way that we want," he said. 

"For something like an accountancy role, clearly if you are going to join the accountancy side of the business you have to have those skills, we don’t give that much training, but once on board we have all the routes there to allow people to progress very quickly."

Grafenia chief executive Peter Gunning formed his Nettl Academy in order to overcome a skills deficit and bring designer training in-house.

“I think when it comes to attracting talent, it’s true, the dynamic has changed,” said Gunning.

“As a business, you’ve got to be appealing. You need a strong brand. Before you get the chance to pick someone, they’ve decided if they want to pick you.”

Pinstripe Print managing director Nigel Lyon said that because print is “not a sexy” industry it is right for companies to up salaries to attract the best.

He said: “I think we have some great skills within our industry but they are just getting older and so are the people within it.

“Age discrimination is a problem. The government is encouraging workers to stay on as long as they like, it’s in their interests, but is it in the interests of the country to have workers hang around until they are 70 purely and simply so they may not be a drain on society?”

The OU is urging firms to help solve the issue with internal staff training, drawing from funds created by the Apprenticeship Levy, which came into force in April and is aiming to create 3 million more apprenticeships by 2020. It said the number planning to offer apprenticeships over the next year is set to almost double, from 31% to 59%.

Hocking added: “Anything that promotes young people coming into any industry is good, lots of things need to be done and so anything is a help but it is a massive problem. In 10 years what is everyone going to do?”