Schools and businesses must work side by side to address the widening skills gap in the Scottish economy.
The Courier’s latest Business Briefing event at Forbes of Kingennie Resort heard of mounting frustration within the private sector that young people were coming to the employment market without the basic skills for work.
Weir Group chief executive Keith Cochrane, who delivered the keynote address, told guests that companies could not just carp from the sidelines on the issue.
Instead he said firms had to be willing to engage over the long-term with schools to provide a career pathway as early as possible.
Angus Council chief executive Richard Stiff joined the panel discussion and said the developing the young workforce agenda was “mission critical” for the local authority.
However, he said there were red tape issues that required to be addressed by the Scottish Government to allow greater links to established between the public and private sectors.
Mr Stiff likened the constraints on education to the thousands of cotton ties that held down Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver in his travels in Lilliput.
The latest Courier Business Briefing was sponsored by Business Angus and supported by Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce.