Forum established to tackle skills shortage

13:24 14th April 2009

A new forum has been established in Scotland to address national skills shortages and provide more training opportunities, reports the Ross-shire Journal.

North Scotland Industries Group (NSIG), based in Invergordon, has partnered with training specialists and will meet for the first time in May.

The forum has resulted from an NSIG survey which found that 40 per cent of energy-related businesses in northern Scotland predict they will suffer from a lack of skilled workers over the course of the next year.

Ian Couper, chief executive of NSIG, told the website: "We want to establish a fully comprehensive, industry-driven group which will have a firm grasp on the overall skills and training picture, delivering a single, unified voice from industry and training organisations to our politicians and other decision-makers."

Providing more training opportunities could convince more people in the region to pursue a career change or seek IT training.

In related news, the All-Wales Economic Summit recently agreed to finance tailored training opportunities for 3,500 jobseekers.