BROMLEY bosses are having a hard time when it comes to finding the staff they want.

They say the recent country-wide survey carried out by Reed Personnel Services, which found that nearly three quarters of firms were facing serious skills shortages, reflects the situation in the borough.

According to the survey, published on February 9, the worst-affected areas were catering, insurance and accountancy.

The service sector has now overtaken manufacturing as the sector suffering most from lack of suitable personnel. Secretarial and admin people were among those in great demand, as were IT staff. In Bromley, News Shopper found both bosses and recruitment agencies struggling to fill vacancies in those fields.

Jane Carter, of recruitment agency Job Finders in the High Street, reported an "extreme shortage" of IT staff, particularly analyst programmers, technical support staff and graduates with computer-related degrees.

Adrian Holland, of accountants Baker Tilly in Newman Road, told the News Shopper that firms like his faced shortages of skilled staff at all levels and as a result salaries were "rising considerably".

Nadia Manders, of Ainsley Morgan Appointments, High Street, said there was a particular shortage of customer services personnel, owing to firms becoming increasingly customer services-orientated. There was also a huge demand for `high-calibre' office staff at all levels, and legal secretaries. She said: "It's a very buoyant market at the moment."

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