As the British economy continues to recover from the impact of the economic downturn, it will start to experience skills shortages.

This is the claim made by Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), who has declared that gross domestic product expansion will result in talent gaps.

He explained that the UK has not "tackled the issue of getting our young people to have the right type of skills and employability" and highlighted the need for more individuals qualified in subjects such as STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics].

"As the population ages, we will find that we struggle and immigration will become more of an issue, because across Europe we have an ageing population as well," Mr Green explained.

The REC expert's comments come in the wake of a recommendation by the UK's Migration Advisory Committee that there should be a cut in the number of professions for which non-EU migrants can secure work visas.

Posted by Alex Donnell