Warnings from sidelines should be acted on fast

It is hard sometimes amid all the bustle and cheer of the booming economy to heed the warnings coming from the sidelines. Maybe that explains why there was so little reaction politically or otherwise to the news this week that, while State enterprise agencies created a creditable 34,000 jobs last year, a record 21,000 jobs were lost in companies supported by those same agencies.

Possibly of even greater concern is the picture presented in the report from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment of a dangerous circle of skills shortages, making it more difficult to attract the very foreign direct investment whose presence is required to keep producing enough jobs to offset the high level of job losses in more traditional lower-skilled sectors.

While immigration can and, indeed will have to, offset some of the holes in the skills pool, training is seen as an increasingly important area, ensuring that the labour force is adequately skilled to meet the needs of today's employers.

Indicative of the problem is the fact that while two-thirds of vacancies require a minimum of the Leaving Certificate, only one-third of those drawing unemployment payments on the Live Register have such a qualification. The road ahead seems clear.