Labour accuses ministers of ‘suffocating’ businesses

More than 40% of all surveyed Scottish businesses reported recruitment concerns during May

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Scottish Labour has said businesses are being "suffocated" by the Scottish Government, as figures show significant recruitment worries from employers.

The latest Business Insights and Conditions Survey for Scotland showed between 40% and 50% of employers experienced difficulties recruiting employees every month in the last year.

According to the data, 40.5% of all businesses surveyed reported recruitment concerns between 2 and 14 May, while figures in accommodation and food services (48.8%) and construction (50.4%) were significantly higher.

The latest figures are an improvement from 2022 where concerns between 16 and 29 May were 45.5% for all business and 64.7% for accommodation and 44.7% for construction.

Recruitment worries peaked in September and October, with 48% of businesses surveyed struggling to hire staff.

Scottish Labour's economy spokesman Daniel Johnson has blamed the struggles on Scottish Government's "incompetence", as he urged ministers to take action on resetting the relationship with businesses.

He said: "The Scottish Government talk of ‘resetting’ relations with business, but businesses are still crying out for a highly skilled, flexible workforce equipped for the jobs of the future.

"Scotland's economic potential is being squandered and growth is being suffocated by this SNP-Green Government failure on skills – and we are all paying the price.

"To seize the opportunities of our transition to a net zero economy and the technological revolution we need a skills system fit for the future."

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