Somerset firms 'struggling' to get skilled staff

The most recent figures for Taunton Deane show 82.7% of the working-age population is in employment

Somerset firms are struggling to fill vacancies due to skilled worker shortages, business leaders have said.

The Somerset Chamber of Commerce [SCC] said a shrinking population of working-age people and the difficulty in retaining talent were to blame.

Neil Murphy from the chamber said: "We don't have enough people to meet the demand over the next six years."

He said the chamber was trying to build better links between businesses and schools to help address the issue.

The project called Bridging the Gap has seen businesses go into local schools and talk to students about the skills and training they need.

"I don't think any of us are doing enough. This is not a new problem - we've had a shrinking population of working-age people traditionally between the ages of 16 and 64 for some time.

"We've got a growing population and an ageing population at a macro level, but the workforce pool that we're looking at is shrinking," said Mr Murphy.

The problem is most acute in Taunton Deane where 82.7% of the working-age population is in employment, according to the Office for National Statistics. The figure in Sedgemoor is 73.1%

Both are above the national average of 72.6%.

Cake baking firm, Ministry of Cake in Somerset, has been struggling to fill 10 vacancies set at the National Living Wage for the past six months.

Ministry of Cake owner Chris Ormrod said: "I do wonder if Taunton in particular there is almost full employment as there just aren't enough people, and there's the age-old problem that people don't want to work in a factory."