The Western European Location Skills Audit by Oxford Intelligence finds the UK has the best workforce for eight ‘hard-to-find' skill sets (including IT, engineering and foreign languages), but it also has the highest number not using these skills.
According to the report, Britain has 3.2 million fluent language speakers, of which only 31% are currently using their languages at work. Some 2.6 million people have advanced engineering skills in the UK, but only 42% use these skills.
Peter Lemagnen, managing director, Oxford Intelligence, said: "If the UK is going to compete in the international market and prepare for the upturn, business and government needs to find ways of reconnecting with skilled workers."
He added: "The EU's Lisbon Agenda in 2000 placed skills at the centre of Europe's goal to become the world's most competitive knowledge-based economy. Nine years on, there seems to be a fundamental disconnect. On average, 59% of the available highly-skilled European workforce isn't making use of its talents. Europe cannot use knowledge to compete with other markets if it does not use it."
British workers have the most hard-to-find skill sets but they are not using their talents
Two thirds of British workers with specialist skills do not use them in their professional lives, according to research by Oxford Intelligence.
